Robotics & Automation News

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robot operating system

OpenMind launches first open-source operating system for intelligent robots

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OpenMind has released the beta version of what it says is “the world’s first open-source operating system for intelligent robots”, adding that it’s “a universal platform that allows any robot to perceive, reason, and act in the real world”.

Robotics has long been fragmented, with developers forced to choose between closed ecosystems, hardware-specific software, or steep learning curves.

This allows any developer to install fully autonomous software on their robots. [Read more…] about OpenMind launches first open-source operating system for intelligent robots

OpenMind raises $20 million to ‘connect all thinking machines’ through its robot operating system

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OpenMind, a company that describes itself as “unlocking machine agency at scale”, has closed a $20 million funding round led by Pantera Capital.

By building open systems, shared intelligence, and decentralized coordination, their goal is to “connect all thinking machines”. In other words, the company wants to provide an operating system for robots, particularly humanoid robots.

The company also received strong backing from industry leaders Ribbit, Coinbase Ventures, HSG, DCG, Pebblebed, Topology, Primitive Ventures, Lightspeed Faction, Anagram and notable angels. [Read more…] about OpenMind raises $20 million to ‘connect all thinking machines’ through its robot operating system

Unchained Robotics raises €8.5 million to make ‘robot operation as simple as using a smartphone’

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German B2B tech company Unchained Robotics has closed an €8.5 million Series A extended funding round, supported by Direttissima Growth Partners, Navivo Capital, Future Industry Ventures, vent.io, and D11Z.

With the fresh capital, the company aims to scale its technology internationally – addressing one of the biggest hurdles in automation: making robots easy to operate through intelligent software.

Automation is often complex, expensive, and difficult to adapt within existing operations. Robots typically need to be programmed manually, often taking weeks before they’re operational. For many smaller companies, this is a major barrier. Unchained Robotics is changing that. [Read more…] about Unchained Robotics raises €8.5 million to make ‘robot operation as simple as using a smartphone’

Alphabet’s Intrinsic looking to integrate more closely with ROS

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Intrinsic – a business unit of Alphabet, the parent company of Google – has been exploring ways to bring the Intrinsic platform “closer together” with Robot Operating System (ROS).

From humble beginnings 17 years ago, ROS has grown to become the “backbone of all kinds of robotics products and projects around the world”, according to Intrinsic.

The open source community has long been at the edge of pushing for greater interoperability in robotics, with ROS playing a “critical role” in many of these advances. [Read more…] about Alphabet’s Intrinsic looking to integrate more closely with ROS

Nvidia unveils generative AI tools, simulation and perception workflows for robotics development

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Nvidia has unveiled a range of updates to its offerings to the robotics industry, unveiling them at ROSCon 2024 with the aim of accelerating the development of AI-powered robot arms and autonomous mobile robots expecially.

At ROSCon in Odense, one of Denmark’s oldest cities and a hub of automation, Nvidia and its robotics ecosystem partners announced generative AI tools, simulation, and perception workflows for Robot Operating System (ROS) developers.

Among the reveals were new generative AI nodes and workflows for ROS developers deploying to the Nvidia Jetson platform for edge AI and robotics. [Read more…] about Nvidia unveils generative AI tools, simulation and perception workflows for robotics development

The rise of the Robot Operating System

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Nearly 55 percent of total commercial robots shipped in 2024 will have at least one Robot Operating System package installed, according to ABI Research

The Robot Operating System, or ROS, is a flexible and collaborative open-source framework for building operating systems for robotics.

As its adoption continues to grow, ROS is aiming to become the industry standard for robotics middleware.

According to ABI Research, a market research company, nearly 55 percent of total commercial robots shipped in 2024 – over 915,000 units – will have at least one ROS package installed, creating a large installed base of ROS-enabled robots.

[Read more…] about The rise of the Robot Operating System

Robot Operating System market forecast to expand almost 9 per cent a year because of its ‘user friendly nature’

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The global market based on the Robot Operating System is likely to grow at an “exponential rate”, according to the report by Transparency Market Research, which estimates the expansion to be almost 9 percent to more than $400 million by 2026. 

The researcher says the success will be because of ROS’ “user-friendly nature”, which may or may not have accounted for the success of open-source software in general.

ROS, which itself is open source, is not actually an operating system, it’s what’s called “middleware”, which acts as a bridge between the actual operating system and the applications.  [Read more…] about Robot Operating System market forecast to expand almost 9 per cent a year because of its ‘user friendly nature’

ROS celebrates 10 years as it looks forward to an expanding market

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The Robot Operating System is marking its 10th anniversary since launch, and with 10 million downloads a month, the market for ROS is set for “significant expansion”, according to a report by Transparency Research

The Robot Operating System is a collection of software tools and libraries used by robot programmers for developing applications.

ROS itself is not an operating system but uses an operating system’s user interface, file system, process management system, and programming utilities.  [Read more…] about ROS celebrates 10 years as it looks forward to an expanding market

Sony invests in Acutronic Robotics’ hardware robot operating system solutions

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Electronics giant Sony has invested an undisclosed sum in a company called Acutronic Robotics, which specialises in the Hardware Robot Operating System, or H-ROS. 

This is according to a report on TechCrunch.com, which says Sony may be looking to use H-ROS as a way to consolidate the disparate robotics landscape to some extent.

The company associated with Acutronic is Erle Robotics, which has built a range of components and machines – such as drones, small cars, and computing boards.

Clearpath Robotics partners with iRobot for next generation Turtlebot based on Intel Euclid Development Kit

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Clearpath Robotics, a provider of mobile robots for research and development, in partnership with iRobot, has launched the TurtleBot Euclid – the next generation all-in-one mobile robotics platform for learning the Robot Operating System.

TurtleBot Euclid is designed to be an easy-to-use and cost-effective solution for enabling students and educators to accelerate robotics learning.

Clearpath’s TurtleBot is based on the Intel Euclid platform which itself is based on the Ubuntu open-source operating system.  [Read more…] about Clearpath Robotics partners with iRobot for next generation Turtlebot based on Intel Euclid Development Kit