Canonical Pushes Deeper Into the World of Robotics, Upgrades Its OSRA Membership

Ubuntu Linux creator Canonical has announced it is looking to dig deeper into the world of robotics, building on its existing relationship with the Robot Operating System (ROS) project and boosting its membership of the Open Source Robotics Alliance (OSRA) to "platinum" level.

"Robotics is evolving rapidly, and we are entering a new phase that will define the next era of automation. Open source has been the foundation of this growth, and ROS will remain central to scaling and deploying advanced robotics worldwide," claims Canonical's vice-president of engineering Olivier Philippe of the partnership. "Collaboration is what keeps open source strong. Our deeper engagement with OSRA reflects our continued commitment to securing the future of ROS and empowering robotics companies building on Ubuntu."

"Canonical, through its Ubuntu platform, its contributions to ROS, and its work on improving the security of open-source software, is one of the longest continuous contributors to open-source robotics," adds Open Robotics chief technical officer Geoffrey Biggs. "The choice by Canonical to elevate its membership in the OSRA to the highest level demonstrates that they are serious about supporting open-source robotics in the long term, and are a partner that the OSRF can rely on into the future."

The Robot Operating System (ROS) launched in 2007, building on an effort by Eric Berger and Keenan Wyrobek in Stanford University's robotics lab and Morgan Quigley's work on the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Robot (STAIR). Despite its name, ROS isn't a distinct operating system; instead, it's a middleware suite designed to run atop a Linux-based operating system — and Canonical's Ubuntu has been the official distribution of choice since the first release.

Canonical itself, while best known for the Ubuntu Linux variants that run on desktops and servers, has been investigating robotics for a number of years. Back in 2021 its operating system was chosen to power Xiaomi's CyberDog platform, the company has demonstrated micro-ROS on low-cost microcontroller hardware, it released a real-time version of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS in 2023 for use in robotics and Internet of Things (IoT) projects, and more recently partnered with Renesas on Ubuntu support on the RZ processor family and with Qualcomm for support on the Dragonwing QCS6490 and QCS5430.

The upgraded membership in the OSRA, which was launched by the Open Source Robotics Foundation in 2024 to provide a long-term support structure for ROS and related projects including Gazebo and Open-RMF, reflects, Canonical's Gabriel Aguiar Noury claims, on the company's belief in "open, community-led governance and our dedication to strengthening the future of ROS and open source robotics."