20090814 Free Software Abundance in Robotics Field

From s5h.net

Open Source Robotics Efforts Going On All Around the World

RoboCar. ZMP, a Tokyo-based company is working on a Linux-based automotive robotics platform that it says "provides the required tools to study various subjects such as applied robotic technology, autonomous movement, communication between vehicles or interaction between cars and humans." The model shown at left is built at 1/10th scale, and is intended for researchers to study in preparation for experiments with car robotics.

http://ostatic.com/blog/open-source-robotics-efforts-going-on-all-around-the-world Nice computerised emulation of art: Rubber Stamp Effect Using GIMP http://fossist.net/?p=493

Recent

Robots to get their own operating system http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327206.300-robots-to-get-their-own-operating-system.html

Robot Makers Collaborate on Operating System

Ultimately, whether the robot world rallies around an open source OS or a commercial OS will depend on the vibrancy of the developer community and the availability of "apps" that underlie more advanced capabilities.

http://www.osnews.com/story/21955/Robot_Makers_Collaborate_on_Operating_System

ERP: An Open Source Robot Design

All the software used is free software licensed under the GPL or BSD.

http://robots.net/article/2897.html

Open Source Robotics Venture Shows the Way Forward

First, look at the team behind it. Willow Garage founded by Scott Hassan (one of the designers of the original Google search engine) has set out to develop both the hardware and software for personal robots unlike any previous venture. By promoting an open source and open platform approach they are pulling in ideas and assistance from specialists in North America and Europe.

http://agmetalminer.com/2009/06/12/open-source-robotics-venture-shows-the-way-forward/

The Year of the Linux-powered Robots

In the very near future, robots will become an indispensable tool that man can’t live without. Just like computers, it will do complicated and challenging tasks thus making things a lot easier for all of us. We all know that majority of personal computers are still running Microsoft Windows operating system and that the year of the Linux desktop is still far from reality. However, many experts believe that in the field of Robotics, it’s going to be a whole different ball game. Soon, Linux-powered robots will dominate the market and will lead the new age of technology.

http://www.junauza.com/2009/03/year-of-linux-powered-robots.html

Student Roboticists Compete to Create C3PO, Share Their Source Code

More than 42,000 high-school students in 1,680 teams from 10 countries are competing in the 2009 FIRST Robotics Competition. (Dean Kamen, the man behind the Segway scooters and many other inventions, is the founder of FIRST.) Twenty thousand mentors have volunteered to assist them. The competition is observing open source principles, according to CollabNet...

http://ostatic.com/blog/student-roboticists-compete-to-create-c3po-share-their-source-code

RobotCub project builds open-source, humanoid robot baby

One of the major goals of the iCub project is to make an open-source standard for the design of the humanoid robot. If things work out well, you could imagine in the future there might be one massive, open-source humanoid robot OS that all budding robot-makers will use as a base to build on.

http://www.neoseeker.com/news/10043-robotcub-project-builds-open-source-humanoid-robot-baby/

5 Awesome Robot Kits to Get You Started with Robotics

Every geeks dream is to have a personal robot that can be programmed to perform various tasks. If you have seen Tony Stark's robotic assistants in the movie Iron Man then you probably know what I mean. But unlike in movies, today's robots are not as advanced or still have limited capabilities. However, time will come that they will become more sophisticated and more useful than they are now.

http://www.junauza.com/2009/02/5-awesome-robot-kits-to-get-you-started.html

"Storage robot" gains community-built apps

Data Robotics has announced a new "Linux Dashboard" and other community-developed "DroboApps" for its Linux-based DroboShare network-storage device. The company is also shipping a more powerful, Firewire-equipped version of the SOHO-targeted Drobo "storage robot," which is network-enabled by the DroboShare companion.

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS4902782262.html?kc=rss

The Robot: Hardware List, Wheel Plan, More Ideas, Steps to launch

These rough steps sound pretty accurate. Milestones in bold. 1. Research relevant further reading areas 2. Order hardware 3. Install Linux on main board 4. Install Linux kmods for relevant hardware and make sure all works 5. Fine tune Linux install

http://www.adamsinfo.com/the-robot-hardware-list-wheel-plan-more-ideas/

Robotics tools add Linux support

Energid Technologies Corp. announced an upgrade to its robotics software platform that adds fast validation features and Linux support.

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS5831985554.html?kc=rss

Laser-guided French robots run Linux

A French robotics start-up called Wany Robotics has announced two mobile, mini-ITX-based sensor robots that run Linux. Aimed at educational and R&D applications, the PeKeeII robots are based on Via C3 or Intel Core 2 Duo processors, and offer sensor telemetry, ultrasound, and laser detection.

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS7379620260.html

Robot software shootout -- the sequel!

Today's nascent robotics market has engendered nearly two dozen general-purpose software development frameworks, nearly all of which run on Linux.

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS4496959678.html?kc=rss

Research bots leverage open-source for child-like intelligence

For the researchers involved, one crucial characteristic of the new robot is that both the hardware and software are open-source and designed for easy collaboration. Whether the researchers build better cognitive architectures, learning algorithms, sensors or limbs, once their work has been proved on the European Commission-funded iCub, it can be shared and used to improve the next generation of machines.

http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208808365

Open-Source Baby

The RobotCub project was first launched in 2004 to compete with research under way in Japan and the United States. What differentiates iCub from its competitors is its modular hardware and software and open-source development. The modular design allows researchers not only to modify or add new components more easily but also to work separately on various aspects of the robot; iCub’s head, for instance, was designed at the Instituto Superior Técnico, in Lisbon, while its legs were developed at the University of Salford, in the United Kingdom. The robot’s open source–based software is available to anyone who wishes to download it.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/jun08/6318

Do Open Source Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?

The effort to develop many versions of iCub includes open source access to the hardware design for iCub, free and open source software for imbuing iCub with skills, an open source version of iCub's underlying software platform, and a wiki with documentation.

http://ostatic.com/163547-blog/do-open-source-robots-dream-of-electric-sheepss

A New Goal for Open Source

With the commitment of the AllemaniACs and others from the Fedora community the Fedora Robotics SIG was recently founded. It aims to make Fedora fit to run on a variety of robots that run (possibly constrained) compatible machines and to use Fedora as a development platform for robots. As always in Fedora, this is a community effort and all help is greatly appreciated and welcomed.

http://www.press.redhat.com/2008/05/20/a-new-goal-for-open-source/

Related: Meet Robot El-E

The computer runs Ubuntu GNU/Linux and the engineers have written most of the software with Python and occasionally C++. They also make use of a variety of   open source packages including SciPy, Player/Stage and OpenCV.

http://www.newsoxy.com/robot-el-e/article10569.htm

Robotics start-up Willow Garage believes open source OS will soon put robots in our homes

The company will release its open source software at the same time.

http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/03/15/robotics-start-willow-garage-believes-open-source-os-will-soon-put-robots-our-homes

Personal robots coming, study finds

The personal robot market will be worth $15 billion annually by 2015, according to an ABI report. Most personal robots shipping today use proprietary OSes, although Linux is slowly migrating from the commercial to the consumer robot market, according to an ABI analyst.   [...] One of the reasons for moving to Linux cited by the contestants was the fact that Sony's groundbreaking Aibo, which offered one of the most hackable APIs among personal robots, was being discontinued.  

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS5330328149.html

A review of robotics software platforms

Today's nascent robotics market has engendered about 10 general purpose software development frameworks, including nine that support Linux. This article surveys seven of them, before wrapping up with an analysis of market trends likely to shape the robotics software landscape of tomorrow.  

http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT5739475111.html

First Public Release of CLARAty Software

With this release, a total of 44 CLARAty modules (~100K lines of code) are now available under the JPL Open Source License. This release is intended to share with the robotics community some of the core robotic modules which were jointly developed with NASA Ames Research Center, Carnegie Mellon, and University of Minnesota. This first release represents about 10% of all CLARAty modules and 30% of the generic modules planned for future release.    

http://www-robotics.jpl.nasa.gov/news/newsStory.cfm?NewsID=69

We, Robots: Open Source Robotics

Now Orocos is nothing like, say, the Linux kernel, which after some configuration and adding a number of tools, runs on pretty much any 32-bit and quite a few 64-bit architectures once would care to think of. Indeed, Orocos is likely to use the Linux kernel itself via a real-time interface to talk to hardware.

http://www.tuxdeluxe.org/node/183

New robot dog runs Linux, thrives on orders

The matt-black Bj is a Linux-powered platform intended for investigating robotics and artificial intelligence. As such, it's really a research device, although iXs does offer it for sale.  

http://www.tech.co.uk/gadgets/future-tech/news/new-robot-dog-runs-linux-thrives-on-orders?articleid=1334414696

Build Your Own Internet-Controlled Robots

Linux-based hardware developed at Carnegie Mellon University allows for Internet-controlled bots made from off-the-shelf parts.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,131237-c,futuretechnology/article.html

Whir do you want to go today?

San Francisco-based startup HeadThere has apparently dreamt up a bizarre robotic contraption called a Giraffe, which looks a lot like a motorised hat-stand. At the base, a PC motherboard running Ubuntu Linux, batteries, motors and wheels lurk, to allow the thing to drive around under its own steam and, presumably, work out where it's going.

http://itsneak.itweek.co.uk/2007/03/whir_do_you_wan.html

NASA Expands Order for Innova Robotics & Automation's Universal Robot Controller to Enhance Ground Testing

In addition, Innova will provide an external clock synchronization signal to NASA's Linux-based host PC that will function as the "heart beat" that triggers the initiation of commands to the robotic arm.

http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=219764

Linux humanoid robot on French TV

A Linux-powered humanoid robot has been interviewed on 8-Fi, a French television magazine devoted to new technology.

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS9128800823.html

WowWee introduces RS Media, a do everything robot

It runs on Linux, and has a camera on its chest, which we were having fun playing around with at CES Unveiled in Vegas. Thankfully, it also comes with a remote control so you can move it around without being a Java programmer. The RS Media also has a media player, hence the name, that supports MP3 (audio) and MPEG 4 (video) playback via its integrated sound system. The orange robot can also display virtually anything from your PC via its LCD display.

http://www.gadgetell.com/2007/01/wowwee-introduces-rs-media-a-do-everything-robot/

New Battlefield Robots "Listen" for Enemy Fire Use Linux

Inside its belly are a wide array of sensors and a GPS locator which are controlled using a version of the Linux operating system.

http://thetek.net/content/view/39/37/

Linux Robots Rule at Wired NextFest

What types of business models are the start-ups pursuing? Beyond its hybrid operating environment, Hanson Robotics also wants to retain a hybrid mix of open source and proprietary technology, according to the company's president. As David Hanson sees things, the ideal ratio is 70 percent open source, versus 30 percent proprietary.

http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/6321/1/

Mark Tilden's RS Media exclusively available at Debenhams

RS media combines Robosapien V2's features with some multimedia functionality -  a full colour LCD screen, a USB connector and MP3 and MP4 playback. RS Media can display and store data easily from your PC or play a song through the speakers in his hands. Using the Personality editor, you can edit all his movements, sound files and video files.   You can even assign voice files or choreograph a routine to a favourite dance track.

http://www.techdigest.tv/2006/09/mark_tildens_rs.html

Linux robots swarm onto lab floor

The Khepera III, which runs Linux on an optional ARM-powered add-in card, adds floor-roving capabilities, the better to support experiments in swarm behavior, K-Team says.

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS7802828105.html

Roboticists to ride wave of power, chip and sensor improvements

The Boston area has become a leading robotics hub, with a larger cluster of related companies than any other area in the U.S., according to a group of panelists assembled for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Enterprise Forum on Robotics Wednesday night.   [...] Some robotics companies, like Vecna, are beginning to follow the software company model and sell services as well as products. Vecna , for example,   customizes and implements the open-source JAUS robotic platform to fit the specific needs of customers.  

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9795853-7.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=NewsBlog