Intrinsic Buys Open Robotics' Commercial Arm, But Leaves ROS and Gazebo with the Foundation
Intrinsic snaps up the for-profit Corporation, but the non-profit Foundation retains ROS, Gazebo, and Open-RMF.
The Open Source Robotics Corporation, the for-profit company behind Open Robotics' Robot Operating System (ROS), has announced its acquisition by Alphabet subsidiary Intrinsic — but promises the not-for-profit Open Source Robotics Foundation, along with ROS, will continue as-is and independently.
"At Intrinsic, we’re aiming to accelerate a new generation of robotics developers. We want to make programming intelligent robotic solutions as simple as standing up a website or mobile application," says Wendy Tan White, Intrinsic chief executive officer, of her company's acquisition. "To realize this vision, we’re welcoming Brian Gerkey, former CEO and co-founder of the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF), and his team to Intrinsic by acquiring the business of its commercial subsidiary, the Open Source Robotics Corporation (OSRC)."
To unpick the announcement a little requires diving into exactly what Open Robotics is. Founded in 2012 as a replacement for Google's dissolved Willow Garage, the Open Source Robotics Foundation is a non-profit organization that maintains the Robot Operating System (ROS), Gazebo simulator, and the Open Robotics Middleware Framework (Open-RMF). Alongside the Foundation is the for-profit Open Source Robotics Corporation, which offered consultancy services and other money-spinning endeavors — with both forming Open Robotics as a whole.
Intrinsic's acquisition is purely focused on the for-profit Open Source Robotics Corporation and its Singaporean subsidiary OSRC-SG. The Open Source Robotics Foundation will, all companies involved have promised, remain both non-profit and independent — and will maintain control of ROS, Gazebo, and Open-RMF.
"OSRF continues as the independent non-profit it's always been, with the same mission, now with some new faces and a clearer focus on governance, community engagement, and other stewardship activities," claims Open Robotics' Brian Gerkey of the deal. "That means there is no disruption in the day-to-day activities with respect to OSRF's core commitment to ROS, Gazebo, Open-RMF, and the entire community."
There will be, as Gerkey admits, some changes: Vanessa Yamzon Orsi, who has been with Open Robotics since 2014, will take over the OSRF as chief executive with Geoffrey Biggs joining the organization from the commercial side as chief technology officer. The Foundation has also announced two new board members: Sabine Hauert, associate professor of swarm engineering at the University of Bristol; and Yuki Nakagawa, found and chief executive of robotics firm RT Corporation.
"ROS, Gazebo, and Open-RMF will be nurtured and advanced by OSRF," Gerkey promises. "You can expect ROS 2 Iron Irwini to be available in May 2023 on schedule. I have known and admired Intrinsic CTO Torsten Kroeger for over a decade, since the early days of ROS, when I was at Willow Garage and he was next door at Stanford. Like many of you, Torsten, Intrinsic CEO Wendy Tan White, and their team are creating a robotics business that will leverage a great deal of open source software. I look forward to working closely with them to further develop ROS and build on top of it in the future."
A question-and-answer thread for ROS users and contributors is available on the ROS forum, while additional information on the acquisition can be found on the Intrinsic and Open Robotics websites.