Open Robotics

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Open Robotics
Formation2012
Type501(c)(3) organization
FocusOpen-source software
HeadquartersMountain View, California, United States
Region served
Worldwide
ProductsRobot Operating System, Gazebo simulator
SubsidiariesOpen Source Robotics Corporation, Open Source Robotics Corporation Singapore
Websitewww.openrobotics.org

Open Robotics is a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Mountain View, California. It is the primary maintainer of the Robot Operating System, the Gazebo simulator, and the Ignition libraries that are set to supersede Gazebo by 2025.[1][2] Its stated mission is to support "the development, distribution and adoption of open source software for use in robotics research, education, and product development".[3]

Open Robotics funds its operations through the contributions of various public and private organizations, some of whom also engage its services for the development of various robotics applications, robotics R&D and consulting.[4] Notable sources of past and current funding include DARPA, NASA, Amazon, Bosch, Nvidia and the Toyota Research Institute.[5][6][7][8]

History

The beginnings of Open Robotics can be traced to Willow Garage, a robotics research lab and incubator created by Scott Hassan, an early Google engineer and billionaire technology entrepreneur. It was here that the first official Robot Operating System (ROS) distribution was released in May 2010, and quickly gained widespread adoption.[9][1] Willow Garage was gradually dissolved in the ensuing years into several spin-offs, including the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF), which was created in May 2012 to continue to shepherd the development of ROS and the Gazebo simulator.[10]

OSRF's initial backers included Willow Garage[10] and DARPA, which awarded OSRF its first contract to support open source simulation software for the DARPA Robotics Challenge.[11] In subsequent years, OSRF also provided support for NASA's Space Robotics challenge[12] and the DARPA Subterranean Challenge.[13]

In September 2016, a taxable subsidiary named the Open Source Robotics Corporation (OSRC) was created to foster greater collaboration with industry.[14] Together with OSRF, these two organizations came to be officially known as Open Robotics in May 2017.[14] In 2018, Open Robotics opened its first overseas office in Singapore,[15] and announced its collaboration with the Singapore Government to work on robotics applications for the healthcare sector.[16]

In December 2022, OSRC and OSRC-SG (the Singapore entity) were acquired by Intrinsic, a subsidiary of Alphabet.[17] OSRF remains an independent non-profit.

References
  1. Tellez, Ricardo. "A History of ROS (Robot Operating System)". The Construct. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  2. "About - Ignition Robotics". ignitionrobotics.org. Retrieved 2022-04-05.
  3. "Open Source Robotics Foundation". Google Summer of Code. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  4. "Open Robotics Home Page". Open Robotics. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  5. Asay, Matt. "How AWS is helping to open source the future of robotics". AWS Open Source Blog. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  6. "Sponsors". Open Robotics. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  7. "Deep Learning and ROS Collide to Bring New Levels of Autonomy to Robots". Nvidia. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  8. Gerkey, Brian. "Renewed support from Toyota Research Institute". Open Source Robotics Foundation. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  9. Cardoza, Christina. "Inside the Robot Operating System, the robotics industry and the Open Source Robotics Foundation". SD Times. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  10. Ackerman, Evan. "Open Source Robotics Foundation Officially Announced". IEEE Spectrum. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  11. Ackerman, Evan. "DARPA Awards Simulation Software Contract to Open Source Robotics Foundation". IEEE. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  12. Hambuchen, Kimberly (15 Sep 2017). "NASA's Space Robotics Challenge: Advancing Robotics for Future Exploration Missions". AIAA SPACE and Astronautics Forum and Exposition. doi:10.2514/6.2017-5120.
  13. Chung, Timothy. "DARPA Subterranean (SubT) Challenge". DARPA. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  14. Gerkey, Brian. "Welcome to Open Robotics". Open Robotics. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  15. Gerkey, Brian. "New office: Singapore". Open Source Robotics Foundation. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  16. Sharon, Alita. "Minister Gan Kim Yong announces development of Singapore's first Robotics Middleware Framework at National Health IT Summit". OpenGov Asia. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  17. "Alphabet's Intrinsic Acquires Majority of Open Robotics". IEEE Spectrum. 2022-12-15. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
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