A Common Language for Robot Interoperability
If you’re in the robotics industry, then you’ve noticed how interoperability is growing in focus and urgency of late. And with good reason. As more, diverse robots are being deployed around the world, there is a growing need for specialized robots from different developers to be able to communicate with each other. A lingua robotica, if you will.
For over three years, we have been collaborating on just such an initiative. The Open Robotics Middleware Framework (Open-RMF) is a free, open source, modular software system that coordinates multiple fleets of indoor and outdoor robots with typical robotic use cases and integrates them with elevators/lifts, doors and other infrastructure. We are proud that this platform was recognized as one of the 2021 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award Honorees. We would love to help interested organizations to incorporate the Open-RMF into their fleet management or building management systems or help teams to get started on new integrations and solutions using Open-RMF; if you're interested, just get in touch!
Open-RMF was initially developed for the healthcare industry, but it's equally relevant and useful for offices, airports, seaports, shopping malls, factories, distribution centers, and more, many of which we are currently testing. And of course, Open-RMF works with all kinds of robot use cases including both indoor and outdoor applications! The source code for Open-RMF is accessible via GitHub along with the documentation, tutorials and examples we have been creating for developers. Here’s a high level summary of just some of the capabilities of Open-RMF, including links to documentation and the open source software:
a hierarchy of interfaces for AMRs that classify them based on how much access each vendor provides to read data and send commands; from just reporting their position, to also accepting pause/resume commands, to accepting waypoints, to full trajectory control - but don’t worry, all safety functions are untouched!
interfaces for other infrastructure in the building that the robots interact with, from doors and elevators to AMR charging stations and fire alarms
implementations of those interfaces (we call them "adapters") for a variety of robots and other devices, both in simulation and in reality
algorithms that operate across the heterogeneous fleet, including a traffic management system that takes account of the different vendors' constraints (e.g., mixing read-only AMRs with waypoint-accepting AMRs)
tools for aligning vendors' maps and coordinate systems to create a consistent shared representation of the space
various UIs for viewing and commanding the fleet
libraries and world-generators for Ignition Gazebo to accelerate simulation testing of robot motion patterns while iterating the traffic map
and of course many demonstration worlds with full instructions to get you up and running Open-RMF including a multi-level clinic, hotel, airport and office
We would like to acknowledge the Singapore government for their vision and support to start this ambitious open source research and development project, "Development of Standardised Robotics Middleware Framework - RMF detailed design and common services, large-scale virtual test farm infrastructure, and simulation modelling". The launch of this project has been supported by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Robotics Program (NRP) and developed in collaboration with Centre for Healthcare Assistive and Robotics Technology (CHART), Integrated Health Information Systems (IHIS), Government Technology Agency (GovTech), and industry partner HOPE Technik.
If you want to learn more about the Open-RMF, including how you can integrate your AMR or deploy Open-RMF in your facility, please get in touch.