Open-source robotics

Orb swarm is an example of an open-source robot

An open-source robot is a robot whose blueprints, schematics or source code are released under an open-source hardware model.

Current projects

Full robot projects

Name	Description	Type
Open Robot Hardware	Open Robot Hardware is intended to serve as a resource for efforts focusing on Open and Open Source mechanical and electrical hardware, with a particular focus on projects that may be useful in robotics applications, robotics research and education.[1]	Open-Source Initiative/Community
Arduino Robot	The Arduino Robot is the first official Arduino on wheels[2]	Arduino based.
Autobed	Web-controlled robotic bed developed by the Healthcare Robotics Lab at Georgia Tech.[3]	Robotic bed
Balanduino	Arduino-compatible based on Arduino. Bluetooth ready. Android app.	Self-balancing robot
Thymio	Thymio is an educative robot with two wheels and many sensors programmed with Aseba	Education.
Yale Open Hand Project	Customizable, 3D-printed, adaptive robotic hand from Yale University.[4]	Robot Hands
Hexy	Open-Source, Low-Cost Hexapod Kit[5]	Hexapod
Sparki	Introductory arduino-powered robot.[6]	Education
DoraBot	DORA Opensource Robotic Assistant, opensource general purpose service robot.[7]	general purpose
LH001	Open Hardware Medical-Research liquid handling robot.[8]	liquid handling
Salvius	Open-source humanoid robot project.[9]	humanoid
Sparky Jr.	Mobile Telepresence Research Project, Est. 1994[10]	-
Open Automaton Project[11]	-	-
Leaf Project[12]	-	-
RobotCub	Including iCub	-
DARwIn-OP	-	humanoid
DroidBot	Android Robot controlled over Bluetooth by App Inventor[13]	Arduino components
Molecubes	Open source modular robotics[14][15]	Modular design
NimbRo-OP[16]	-	humanoid
Poppy-project[17]	The Poppy project aims at building an Open-source humanoid platform based on robust, flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software.	Education, Research
OpenRAVE	-	-
e-puck mobile robot	An open-hardware, education oriented, mobile robot.	education
InMoov[18]	An open-hardware and open-source 3D printed life-size humanoid robot. As software MyRobotLab[19] is used.	humanoid
Open-source Micro-robotic Project	An open-source space swarm robot project.	-
Qwerkbot[20]	Simple open-source robot from Carnegie Mellon University	-
Orb swarm[21]	-	education-
OHMM[22]	Open-hardware mobile manipulator	-
OpenROV[23]	Open-source underwater robot	education and exploration
Axemblo (ex Rackbot)[24]	An open-source aluminium system to build robots controlled by arduino and smartphones	-
multiplo	Building system with open-source hardware, electronics, software and documentation for prototyping robots[25]	-
ArduCopter	Flying robot framework with hardware and software based on Arduino
OpenPilot	Flying robot framework with hardware and software based on STM32 microcontroller
Paparazzi Project	Flying robot framework with hardware and software based on the Lisa/S chip
PX4 autopilot	Flying robot framework with hardware and software based on the STM32F427 Cortex M4 core with FPU
Slugs	Flying robot framework with hardware and software
RepRap	3D printer robot	3D printer
Q.bo[26]	-	-
Willow Garage	-	-
Tingu	Open-source humanoid robot project.	humanoid
Ardumower[27]	open-source robotic lawn mower based on Arduino Mega	-
r-One[28]	An Advanced, Low-Cost Robot for Research, Teaching, and Outreach	Education
Meccanoids[29]	An Advanced, Modular, Low-Cost Robot based on Meccano	Education, Experiments

Open-source software

• App Inventor for Android
• BlueBots,^[30] free bluetooth remote for custom bluetooth projects, such as robotics. Works with Arduino (as Arduino Mega).
• Amarino, a toolkit, basically consisting of an Android application and an Arduino library.^[31][32]
• NXJ An open-source Java programming environment for the Lego NXT robot kit (http://lejos.sourceforge.net/)
• CLARAty Robotics software developed by JPL as part of the Mars program.
• ROS (Robot Operating System) (open-source BSD software running on 50+ robots ^[33])
• URBI^[34] (C++ distributed/embedded components framework + parallel/event-driven orchestration script language)
• Player (robot framework)
• Orocos, C++ framework for component-based robot control software
• Rock (the Robot Construction Kit) (Software integration framework for robotic systems based on Orocos/RTT.)
• Orca (robot framework)
• MOOS (robot framework)
• MyRobotLab (robot framework)
• RoboComp (robot framework)
• RUBICS
• CARMEN (robot simulator)
• TeamBots (robot simulator)
• Open Dynamics Engine (physics engine for modelling articulated rigid-body dynamics)
• Open Platform for Robotic Services.
• ROS (Robot Operating System) provides libraries and tools to help software developers create robot applications. It provides hardware abstraction, device drivers, libraries, visualizers, message-passing, package management and more. ROS is licensed under an open source, BSD license.^[35]
• Simbad robot simulator (robot simulator)
• Gazebo (multi-robot simulator)
• STDR Simulator (multi-robot 2D simulator)
• Dave's Robotic Operating System
• Sparky Telepresence Controller
• Home brew robot software running on the consumer robotic platform Spykee
• OpenJAUS (robot / unmanned systems framework)
• RI-JAUS SDK A cross-platform, GPL-licensed C++ SDK implementing the JAUS protocol for robot control.
• OpenRTM-aist (robotics technology middleware)
• Open Platform for Robotic Services Component based framework, GUI editors in Eclipse and a Simulator, OPRoS Components
• miniBloq a graphical programming interface that allows to program robotic boards (Arduino Compatibles) without previous knowledge of programming^[36]
• Artoo a Ruby microframework for robotics and physical computing
• EEROS, an Easy, Elegant, Reliable, Open and Safe Real-Time Robotics Software Framework
• LSTS Toolchain is a set of tools and frameworks for the development of Networked Robot Systems.

Open-source hardware

• Make Controller Kit
• Motherboards with open-hardware CPU
  • Based in Arduino^[37] (Arduino Mega) and using AIDE (Arduino Software IDE).^[38] Can include Bluetooth4arduino^[39] and Magician Chassis^[40] / Ardumoto ^[41][42]
  • Based in Raspberry Pi ^[43]
• The Rossum project open-sources certain robotic modules and tools (mappers, robot simulators, encoder designers, ...)

Advantages

• Lower-cost. Costs of a robot can be decreased dramatically with prominent examples being the robots being built by Hanson ($300) and project aiko ($25000)
• Interchangeable software and/or hardware

Popularity

A first sign of the increasing popularity of building robots yourself can be found with the DIY community. What began with small competitions for remote operated vehicles (e.g. Robot combat), soon developed to the building of autonomous telepresence robots as Sparky and then true robots (being able to take decisions themselves) as the Open Automaton Project and Leaf Project. Certain commercial companies now also produce kits for making simple robots.

Uses

At present, open-source robots are not yet sophisticated enough to perform much of the tasks a person can do, nor perform difficult or complicated tasks that only robots may—one day—provide; this being:

• metalworks (precise metal sheets and pipe-bending, sheet/pipe cutting; e.g. via Multimachine and/or other embedded tools as cramps, pliers, ...)
• translator for many languages (including the main languages as Mandarin, English, Spanish, Bengali, Hindi, etc.)
• calorie-counter for the robot-owner; counting the calories of food items the owner eats and preventing him from eating more that day when he reaches 2000 kcal
• building electronic circuitry (PCB-boards)
• transportation; this e.g. by riding on the back, similar as on a horse (the latter allowing the robot to return to the appearance of a normal person after disembarking)
• personal protection (robots, being made of metal, are able to withstand quite some beating and may be taught to incapacitate attackers by punching or Less-lethal weapons^[44])
• bomb disposal and/or the making of explosive compounds for bomb disposal (e.g. on the owner's farming fields e.g. in developing countries as Cambodia, countries south and north of the sahara as Angola, Western Sahara, Libia, ..) or destruction of obstacles or to prepare building sites
• providing communication through a small computer (e.g. Linutop, EeeBox, gPC, and integrated satellite Internet uplink or long-range Wi-Fi or WiMAX-antenna). The type of communication may include: active searching on webpages (browsing), e-mail, text and or audio based communication with others (e.g. VoIP calls; both to distant users via Internet as local VoIP-communication to team members in close proximity), ...
• The use of RepRaps and other 3-D printers for rapid prototyping, art, toy manufacturing, educational aides, and open-source appropriate technology

Despite this however, some DIY builders are already looking to helpful activities that can be performed today as vacuum cleaning, floor washing and automated mowing.^[45][46]

See also

• Accelerometer
• Bluetooth
• How-to
• Internet of Things
• Khepera mobile robot III
• Maker culture
• Modular design
• Open-source computing hardware
• OpenStructures
• Pulse-width modulation (PWM)
• Phase-change material
• Robot software
• Robotics suite
• WiDi

References

1. "Open Robot Hardware – Open Robot Hardware is intended to serve as a resource for efforts focusing on Open and Open Source mechanical and electrical hardware, with a particular focus on projects that may be useful in robotics applications, robotics research and education.". Retrieved 4 December 2014.
2. Arduino Robot
3. Autobed
4. "Yale Open Hand Project – Customizable, 3D-printed, adaptive robotic hand from Yale University.". GrabLab, Yale University. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
5. "Hexy – Open Source Low Cost Fully Articulating DIY Robot Kit". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
6. "Sparki – The Easy Robot for Everyone". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
7. "Dorabot - Robots for Everyone". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
8. "carlcrott/LH001 · GitHub". GitHub. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
9. "Salvius the Robot". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
10. "Sparky JR - sparky the dog". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
11. "Open Automaton Project". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
12. "Home Page". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
13. My Droid Robot controlled by App Inventor
14. Researchers build a robot that can reproduce
15. Molecubes - Open Source Modular Robotics
16. "NimbRo-OP Humanoid Open Platform". Retrieved 19 January 2015.
17. "Poppy Project". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
18. "InMoov » open-source 3D printed life-size robot". Retrieved 14 December 2014.
19. "http://myrobotlab.org". Retrieved 14 December 2014. External link in |title= (help)
20. http://www.terk.ri.cmu.edu/recipes/qwerkbot-classic/
21. "OrbSWARM". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
22. "Open Hardware Mobile Manipulator (OHMM)". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
23. "OPENROV". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
24. "Axemblo". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
25. "Multiplo - Open source robotics building system". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
26. "Thecorpora S.L.". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
27. Markus. "Welcome to ArduMower.de". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
28. "r-one - Multi-Robot Systems Lab - Rice University, Houston TX". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
29. "Meccanoid G15KS".
30. BlueBots on Google Play.
31. Amarino
32. Android accelerometer/ Bluetooth / Arduino controlled robot.
33. "Robots - ROS Wiki". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
34. "Gostai Urbi goes open source". ZDNet. 20 August 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
35. ROS.
36. Julián da Silva Gillig. "Minibloq". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
37. Arduino Robotics Tutorials
38. Arduino Software
39. How to control Arduino board using an Android phone.
40. Magician Chassis
41. Ardumoto.
42. Ardumoto- Motor Driver Shield
43. Raspberry Pi robots
44. "Tmsuk security robots". Engadget. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
45. "DIY commercial vacuum robot". The Red Ferret Journal. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
46. "DIY Roomba preposition on Arduino motherboard". Retrieved 13 September 2014.

External links

• DIY Linux robots
• Carnegie Mellon DIY Robots
• Contraptor.
• Open Source Robotics Foundation.
• Open Source Hardware Association.