Open-Source and Widely Disseminated Robot Hardware [From the Guest Editors

Abstract

The articles in this special section focus on the open-source movement taking over the robotics industry. Open source systems have already revolutionized a number of industries by empowering end users to contribute to the products that they need and want and by fueling grass-roots development and continual improvement of projects in completely new areas. While there have been innumerable successes in software and electronics hardware, open mechanical hardware is taking longer to catch on. There are a number of likely reasons for this, including the complexity, expense, and time associated with fabricating mechanical components as well as the challenge and reliability of assembling the wide range of mechanical and electronic components required to produce a fully functional system. In comparison with open-source software efforts, open hardware has numerous additional practical challenges associated with dissemination and evolution of the product driven by end users. However, rapid fabrication technologies have improved to the point of being able to produce parts that are strong, robust, and precise enough for practical robotic systems, and the pricing of the systems and supplies have lowered to the point that many of these machines are available in fabrication facilities at most universities.