Engineer-A-Business

If all the hype is true, robotics will soon play a huge role in our everyday lives, and Willow Garage may be the kingpin of this revolutionary new industry. The firm provides both hardware and software for robotics applications. The company's biggest product is its Robot Operating System (ROS). This product is open source code, just like the rest of the products Willow Garage releases.

ROS was originally developed in the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. A year later, Willow Garage took over the project. In its major respects, ROS performs the same functions as any other operating system. However, part of the system is allocated to keeping track of and supporting the functionality of nodes that have been written in by users. The fact that ROS is open source is the largest reason why it is expected to develop rapidly and play a key role in the future of robotics. One of the reasons why many programmers will contribute to ROS is that they know that their contributions will not only affect Willow Garage, but the entire robotics industry. The company has already achieved several milestones such as programming a robot to navigate its way through a room to plug itself in when its power supply is low and making a robot conscious of when it is holding an object.

Willow Garage has worked closely with other companies in the robotics industry in order to develop the software that it sells through its website. With the help of other programmers, Willow Garage has been able to develop rich, robust and integrated software bases upon which robotics professionals and hobbyists can use to build their applications. Within six months of the company being launched Willow Garage began working with NASA to develop open source code for robots that are being designed to explore other planets. Willow Garage has also worked on other applications that are still new in the robotics industry, such the interaction between humans and robots.

Willow Garage's vision is not limited to its own research or product development, either. The company is also looking to the future of the industry and the impact that its robotics milestones will have on society. They are currently planning on developing an environment where robotics applications can be shared and distributed much more easily. They have also have been carefully following trends and new developments in the industry as a whole. Willow Garage envisions days when robots will see, and address the possibility that robots may be misused by unscrupulous individuals if appropriate precautions are not taken.

There seems to be little doubt that robots are going to affect our lives in more ways than we can imagine. As the robotics industry begins to soar, Willow Garage will almost certainly ride its way to the top.

Last Updated (29 July 2010)