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MOV.AI releases Flow ROS robot development environment

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MOV.AI, developer of the Robotics Engine Platform announced today the beta release of Flow, a visual Integrated Development Environment (IDE) designed especially for ROS-based robot software.

This open IDE speeds up and streamlines robot software development with a visual representation of ROS projects that makes it easy to understand ROS projects and allows simple and intuitive development.

MOV.AI Flow makes it easier to import assets, reduces configuration and integration work, speeds up debugging, and makes it easy to port projects across environments, and share with the community.  [Read more…] about MOV.AI releases Flow ROS robot development environment

MassRobotics partners with AMD to advance adaptive computing in robotics

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MassRobotics, an innovation hub and startup cluster focused on the needs of the robotics community, is partnering with chip giant AMD to introduce and deliver technologies to robotics startups.

Through the industrial suite of AMD tools, platforms and an accelerated app store designed for the robotics industry, robotics startups will be able to further develop innovative solutions around automation, mobility, AI and machine vision-related applications.

AMD, widely known for their FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays) and adaptive SoCs (system-on-chips), are bringing offerings, such as the Kria KR260 Robotics Starter Kit and Kria Robotic Stack (KRS), which are focused on bringing easy-to-integrate hardware acceleration of ROS 2 to MassRobotics resident startups. [Read more…] about MassRobotics partners with AMD to advance adaptive computing in robotics

Clearpath Robotics launches latest version of TurtleBot

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Clearpath Robotics, a manufacturer of mobile robotic platforms for research and development, and Open Robotics, primary maintainers of the Robot Operating System (ROS) and Gazebo simulator, have launched TurtleBot 4 – the next generation of the open-source robotics platform.

TurtleBot 4 is described as a “low-cost, fully expandable mobile robotics platform with improved sensing, increased payload capacity, ROS 2 support, and auto-docking capabilities” aimed at educators, researchers, and developers.

Bryan Webb, president of Clearpath Robotics, says: “This year marks ten years since we started working with the Open Robotics’ founding team on the Turtlebot 2. [Read more…] about Clearpath Robotics launches latest version of TurtleBot

Cogniteam’s Nimbus supports cloud-enabled robot management powered by Nvidia Jetson

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Cogniteam is supporting the Nvidia Jetson edge AI platform into its cloud-based robotics development and deployment platform, allowing cloud-enabled deployments to use Nvidia technology for the first time.

More customers are moving over to Nvidia’s GPU-accelerated technologies that can be developed and deployed through the cloud.

This is made possible by Nimbus’s packaging of field-tested software, such as sensors and AI capabilities, based on over a decade of Cogniteam’s work with enterprise businesses. [Read more…] about Cogniteam’s Nimbus supports cloud-enabled robot management powered by Nvidia Jetson

Nvidia brings AI perception to ROS developers

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Nvidia has unveiled initiatives to deliver a suite of perception technologies to the Robot Operating System (ROS) developer community.

The chipmaker says these initiatives will “reduce development time and improve performance for developers seeking to incorporate cutting-edge computer vision and AI/ML functionality into their ROS-based robotics applications”.

Nvidia and Open Robotics, the organisation which maintains ROS, have entered into an agreement to accelerate ROS 2 performance on Nvidia’s Jetson edge AI platform and GPU-based systems and to enable seamless simulation interoperability between Open Robotics’s Ignition Gazebo and Nvidia Isaac Sim on Omniverse. [Read more…] about Nvidia brings AI perception to ROS developers

Hexagon NovAtel delivers ROS 2 compatible drivers to the OEM7 receiver

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Hexagon NovAtel has released its second purpose-built driver, powered by the latest series of the Robot Operating System, ROS 2.

The NovAtel OEM7 drivers are developed and managed by NovAtel engineers to provide an optimised interface for autonomy projects.

The drivers allow for quick incorporation of NovAtel’s OEM7 receivers into custom ROS 2 based applications. [Read more…] about Hexagon NovAtel delivers ROS 2 compatible drivers to the OEM7 receiver

US DoD selects Stratom to migrate robotic systems from ROS-1 to ROS-2

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Stratom, a developer of autonomous ground vehicles and robotic systems for logistics and operational applications, has been selected as part of an exclusive team to deliver the US Department of Defense’s Stage II of the Modular Autonomy and Robotic Software program, which involves the collaborative migration of Robotic Technology Kernel software modules from the first version of the Robot Operating System to ROS 2. 

For nearly a decade, the US government has been developing ROS-M (Robotic Operating System-Military), an ecosystem of software architectures, reusable components and supporting infrastructure to enable rapid development and fielding of robotic and autonomous systems.

Built on ROS 1, ROS-M enables the DoD to benefit from open-source development practices while maintaining tight control over the community-developed code. However, ROS 1’s current revision, Noetic, is set to be the last version, with support ending in 2025. [Read more…] about US DoD selects Stratom to migrate robotic systems from ROS-1 to ROS-2

Doosan Robotics introduces ‘industry’s first’ ROS package for its machines

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Doosan Robotics has released the Doosan ROS 2 package, compatible with the latest ROS 2 Foxy Fitzroy.

By releasing the package in early 2021, Doosan Robotics says it has positioned itself as “the first to operate collaborative robots driven by the newest version of ROS 2”.

Doosan Robotics strategically designed its ROS 2 Foxy package to provide both convenience and accessibility. [Read more…] about Doosan Robotics introduces ‘industry’s first’ ROS package for its machines

PI USA adds ROS drivers to its hexapod robotic positioners

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PI USA has added Robot Operating System (ROS) drivers to its hexapod 6-axis robotic positioners.

ROS, managed by ROS.org, is a flexible framework for robotics software development, and PI has released ROS drivers for its full compact H-811 hexapod range.

These miniature 6 degrees-of-freedom robotic positioning systems provide sub-micron precision for applications including Silicon Photonics array alignment, medical robotics, camera lens optimization, and microscopy. [Read more…] about PI USA adds ROS drivers to its hexapod robotic positioners

Otto Motors integrates its warehouse robots with Boston Dynamics’ robot dog

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Otto Motors, a maker of autonomous mobile robots for warehouses and part of Clearpath Robotics, has integrated its warehouse robots with Boston Dynamics’ robot dog, Spot, as part of a demonstration. (See video below.)

The company says it combined its separate areas of expertise – from Clearpath and Otto – into “a dynamic real-world application using Boston Dynamics’ Spot”.

At the end of last year, Clearpath released a ROS software package for Spot which allows researchers to take full advantage of ROS capabilities out-of-the-box and leverage widely available open-source libraries and tools with Spot. [Read more…] about Otto Motors integrates its warehouse robots with Boston Dynamics’ robot dog