NVIDIA Learning Pathway

Recommended courses for ASPEN developers, organized by priority

Tier 1 — Required Tier 2 — Recommended Tier 3 — Enrichment Timeline
Tier 1 Required Complete before working with ASPEN
1 Introduction to Robotic Simulations in Isaac Sim
DLI Course S-OV-03 Free Self-Paced ~4 hours
Isaac Sim basics, building robots in simulation, sensor configuration, and ROS 2 integration. The foundational course for understanding the simulation platform.
Why for ASPEN: This is the exact platform ASPEN runs on. Every simulation, every vehicle, every sensor in ASPEN lives inside Isaac Sim.
2 Learn OpenUSD
NVIDIA Learning Path Free Self-Paced Series ~6 hours
USD fundamentals, scene composition and layering, Python scripting for USD, and asset pipeline workflows. A multi-part learning path covering the 3D format standard.
Why for ASPEN: Every 3D asset in ASPEN is USD format. Understanding USD composition, layers, and Python scripting is essential for modifying scenes.
3 An Introduction to Developing With NVIDIA Omniverse
DLI Course S-OV-11 Free Self-Paced ~4 hours
Omniverse platform architecture, Kit SDK, building extensions, and working with the Omniverse ecosystem. Covers the full development platform.
Why for ASPEN: Understanding the platform ASPEN is built on. ASPEN's extensions, UI, and data pipelines all use Kit SDK and Omniverse APIs.
4 Fundamentals of Accelerated Computing with CUDA Python
DLI Course C-AC-02 Self-Paced ~8 hours
GPU programming basics, writing CUDA kernels, memory management and optimization, and accelerated computing paradigms with Python.
Why for ASPEN: ASPEN's physics simulations and ocean data queries run on CUDA. Understanding GPU programming is critical for performance work.
Tier 2 Recommended Deeper research capabilities
5 Robotics Fundamentals Learning Path
NVIDIA Learning Path Free Multi-Course ~20 hours
A multi-course path covering robot perception, manipulation, and autonomous navigation. Provides broader robotics context beyond simulation.
Why for ASPEN: Broader robotics context for autonomous underwater vehicle research. Covers perception and navigation patterns used in BlueROV2 missions.
6 Digital Twins for Physical AI Learning Path
NVIDIA Learning Path Free Multi-Course ~15 hours
Digital twin concepts, USD-based workflows, simulation pipelines, and creating high-fidelity virtual replicas of physical environments.
Why for ASPEN: Understanding how to build digital twins of real ocean environments. ASPEN is fundamentally a digital twin of undersea operating areas.
7 Isaac Lab Documentation & Tutorials
NVIDIA / Open Source Free Self-Paced ~12 hours
Reinforcement learning environments, task design and reward shaping, policy training pipelines, and sim-to-real transfer methods.
Why for ASPEN: ASPEN includes RL scaffolding for autonomous vehicle training. Isaac Lab is the standard framework for RL in Isaac Sim.
8 NVIDIA fVDB Documentation
NVIDIA Developer Free Reference / GitHub ~6 hours
Sparse voxel data structures on GPU, efficient spatial queries, NanoVDB integration, and large-scale volumetric data management.
Why for ASPEN: ASPEN stores all ocean data (temperature, salinity, currents, bathymetry) in fVDB/NanoVDB format. Essential for data pipeline work.
Tier 3 Enrichment Specialized research topics
9 Building RAG Agents with LLMs & Other AI Courses
NVIDIA DLI Self-Paced ~8 hours
Retrieval-augmented generation, LLM agent design, prompt engineering, and building AI-powered assistants for domain-specific tasks.
Why for ASPEN: Mission planning AI assistants, natural language interfaces for simulation control, and automated report generation.
10 ROS 2 Documentation & Tutorials
Open Robotics Free Self-Paced ~15 hours
ROS 2 Humble fundamentals, nodes and topics, robot communication, and hardware driver integration for real-world deployment.
Why for ASPEN: Connecting ASPEN simulations to real BlueROV2 hardware. ROS 2 is the bridge between sim and physical robots.
11 Fundamentals of Deep Learning
NVIDIA DLI Self-Paced ~8 hours
Neural network architectures, training and optimization, inference pipelines, and practical deep learning applications.
Why for ASPEN: Foundation for reinforcement learning-based vehicle navigation research and AI-driven mission planning.
12 Bellhop / Acoustic Toolbox Documentation
Ocean Acoustics Library Free Reference ~4 hours
Acoustic ray tracing, sound propagation modeling, transmission loss calculations, and environmental input file formats.
Why for ASPEN: Understanding the acoustic propagation engine ASPEN uses for underwater communications and sonar simulation.

Additional Resources

NVIDIA Developer Forums

forums.developer.nvidia.com

ASPEN MITRE Bitbucket

git.codev.mitre.org/scm/aspenext/

DGX Spark Isaac Sim Playbook

build.nvidia.com/spark/isaac

Suggested Timeline

Weeks 1 – 2
Complete Tier 1 courses: Isaac Sim, OpenUSD, Omniverse Development, and CUDA Python. Build the foundational knowledge required for all ASPEN work.
Weeks 3 – 4
Set up ASPEN development environment, run first simulations, explore the codebase, and begin making small modifications to existing scenes.
Weeks 5 – 8
Complete relevant Tier 2 courses based on your specific research focus. Robotics path for vehicle work, Digital Twins for environment modeling, Isaac Lab for RL research.
Ongoing
Tier 3 enrichment courses as needed for specialized thesis work. Deep learning for navigation AI, ROS 2 for hardware integration, acoustics for sonar research.