Open Robotics Turns 9
It’s hard to believe now, but it was in fact nine years ago this summer that we created Open Robotics. It started with a handful of us deciding it was time to leave the nest that was Willow Garage and start a separate company, with the goal of taking on the mantle of leading the open source community that Willow had so successfully nurtured.
So we incorporated the new company and got to work. At first we limited our attention to Gazebo, but one year in, we officially took on responsibility for ROS. And the rest, as they say, is history.
What happened in the past nine years? Here are some numbers:
We grew our team from the original half dozen to more than 50 today
We opened an office in Singapore to work with our community and customers in the Asia Pacific region
We were hired by 71 industry and government customers to deliver a wide array of research, development, and consulting services
We hosted 11 simulation-based competitions, with robots walking, driving, flying, and swimming through factories, caves, harbors, and even other planets
We mentored 48 interns (and hired some of them)
We mentored 50 remote interns via the Google Summer of Code, Google Summer of Docs, Outreach Program for Women, and Outreachy programs (and hired some of them)
We organized 9 editions of ROSCon (plus 5 regional events and 1 virtual event)
We created the ROS 2 Technical Steering Committee, which now has 19 members
We made 7 releases of ROS 1 (from Hydro to Noetic)
We made 7 releases of ROS 2 (from Ardent to Galactic)
We made 11 releases of Gazebo (from 1.9 to 11.0)
We made 5 releases of Ignition (from Acropolis to Edifice)
And we did it all while holding true to our founding mission from nine years ago:
Support the development, distribution, and adoption of open source software for use in robotics research, education, and product development.
So, thank you to all of the maintainers, contributors, users, customers, sponsors, and everyone else who makes this whole ecosystem possible! And happy birthday to us!