The newly formed Open-Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF) wants to take robotics development into the future as fast as possible, and says it will support the development, distribution, and adoption of open-source software for use in robotics research, education, and product development.
Open-source robotics software already exists as the Robot Operating System (ROS), one of the most widely-used robot software platforms. Similar to Linux on a much smaller scale, ROS is an ecosystem consisting of modules, libraries, and tools, and the people who contribute and use them, Brian Gerkey, chief executive officer of the OSRF and director of open-source development at Willow Garage, told us.
The OSRF's role is a legal entity that can act as a steward of the ROS community, a focal point for people interested in ROS, and a nexus for government agency and corporate funding, said Gerkey.
A new foundation supports the development of open-source robotics software that will bring more sophisticated abilities like motion planning to industrial robots, such as the 15-axis, two-armed SDA10D from Yaskawa Motoman Robotics. (Source: Yaskawa Motoman Robotics)
Begun and supported by Willow Garage, ROS was designed for the research community. An example is the ROS-based, university-developed Raven II surgical robot research platform, which combines ROS-based software with university-developed hardware to help accelerate surgical robot development.
After satisfying the needs of that community, Willow Garage started looking at how to make the infrastructure useful to robot makers. "So we focused more on documentation, user interfaces, and more outreach to users in companies," said Gerkey. "Now there's a handful of companies shipping robots with ROS inside." The organization turned to industrial robot makers' needs with ROS-Industrial, which combines proven industrial robotics with open-source robotics code, such as standardizing the interfaces to industrial robot arms.
Okay, maybe that's a bit hyperbolic, but open source has a great track record fostering innovation around emerging technologies and encouraging the participation and co-development that's essential to building a market and propeling it forward. 3D printing is a great example. While there's been plenty of innovation on the private industry front, projects like RepRap were instrumental in breaking 3D printing out of its niche and putting it on the frontlines of innovation, not to mention, serving as a stepping stone for a lot of smaller innovators to get involved.
One thing that's interesting to me about this development is hearing about all the applications that industrial robot makers could start helping their robots accomplish, such as finely dexterous movements taken from surgical robot programming, or motion planning for unknown environments. That "pipeline from the lab to the factory" is a good image for how the open source process can work at its best.
Beth your right on target. The Open Source movement has turned into a Megatech industry. With software being the enabling Gate to New Product Developmemt, hardware has picked up momentum as well(Open Source Hardware [OSH]foundation). The ROS is good example of how collaboration between Universities and Tech Industries can produced cost effective solutions to solve challenging problems like Motion Planning.
This is a great idea. Open source software makes a lot of sense for robotics. But I didn't realize there was such a thing as open source hardware. Is it catching on?
The Open Source Hardware (OSHW) movement is quite big today. Companies like Arduino (yes the company name is their product), Adafruit and Sparkfun Electronics are pioneers in providing all source code, BOMs and gerber files for anyone to manufacture their designs and products. Of course, they sell kits for individuals who just want to build some really cool gadgets. Here's 3 links explaining additional information about OSHW.
Thanks, MrDon, this is really helpful. I knew there were some things going on with Sparkfun, but I hadn't thought of it in terms of open source hardware. This is very encouraging. Does this tend to attract young inventors?
Your quite welcome. Yes its great for stimulating creativity for young inventors. The free software tools like CADSoft Eagle makes it easy for creating circuit schematic diagrams and PCBs. Adafruit and Sparkfun provide tutorials and new library components for today's active and passive semiconductor parts. I'm currently using this software to develop kits for Jameco Electronics. Today it's really cool to be into OSHW. Checkout the link for CADSoft Eagle.
Thanks for this info, Mrdon. I would imagine this would be great fun for some of our younger Gadget Freaks. We're beginning to attract more and more young inventors. the gadget currently up (#216) was put together by a 15 year old.
Yes, prototyping platforms like I mentioned (LEGO Mindstorms and Arduino) make it very easy for young Makers/Inventors to create really cool projects. I was quite impress with the LED project created by the 15year Maker and the method he used to develop his product. Very innovated young person.
MrDon, we have more Gadget Freak coming up that use LEGO Mindstorms and Arduino. These tools seems to be this generation's Heath Kits or Erector Sets, only at a much higher technology level.
Hi Rob, that's awesome about the upcoming Gadget Freak articles. I have a LEGO Mindstorms -Arduino project that allows an Android phone to communicate with the prototyping devices using Bluetooth. I have a few more tests to conduct and then I'll be able to do a writeup for submission.
MrDon, you can look through our Gadget Freaks and find a number of projects that include Arduino tools. The LEGO projects are in the works, but they're coming.
Hi Rob, Its' amazing how creativity can emerge with the use of these electronic prototyping platforms. I like sharing these Gadget Freak projects with the Capstone Students at the School of Electronics Technology of ITT Tech to help stimulate design product ideas. BTW, I'm the Department Chair!
MrDon, thanks for sharing the Gadget Freak with your students. We work with a couple universities that turn class projects into Gadget Freak entries. Usually it's students working in groups of three or four. Since we pay $500 for each Gadget Freak, there's extra incentive for students to share their work.
I wonder if open source for robotics will follow a path similar to that of Linux in the embedded world. Linux had tremendous appeal for many developers, and because it often turned out to be more difficult than it looked, a group of commercial versions of embedded Linux sprang up around it. Could we expect to see the same here?
Chuck, so far it sounds like "commercial" software is likely to be on the order of drivers/interfaces for a specific company's own robots, such as those Motoman is currently developing. Or did you mean commercial versions of ROS itself?
I was wondering about that, Chuck. I was surprised that open source is being considered since I thought a lot of the robotic technologies would have been proprietary to the robot manufacturers.
I watched the video and was a little surprised at the crudeness of the operation, and also with the large time gaps. I was wondering if this is typical or if it was just a crude demo meant to only show that it could be done. I am a hardware guy and certainly don't appreciate the complexities of the software art included in this demo, but can this be further improved by selecting a different level of accuracy and speed, or is this the state of the software now?
Warren, the video is of a very simple demo. From my discussions with sources, I understand that what it shows is pretty darn complex on the software end. ROS is currently being used in surgical robot development. There are several other complex robots using ROS, shown here in a rotating gallery: http://www.willowgarage.com/pages/software You also might want to check out the SWRI site on ROS-Industrial for more details http://www.swri.org/4org/d10/msd/automation/ros-industrial.htm
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