One Small Step for Robotics...

I am excited to announce that MassRobotics has released version 1.0 of its open standard for robot interoperability. This is an important milestone for the industry and will allow customers to deploy robots from multiple vendors with confidence in their ability to work together. This will supercharge human productivity, improve working conditions, create jobs, and allow the industry to meet the (perhaps unreasonable) consumer expectations that have pushed many businesses to the breaking point.

There were a handful of people that really went above and beyond to make this a reality. A big thank you to Tom Ryden and Joyce Sidopoulos of MassRobotics, Christopher Cacioppo of 6 River Systems, Nicolás Varas and Jason Walker of Waypoint Robotics, and Zac Dydek of Vecna Robotics. I appreciate the blood, sweat and tears you put into this effort!

We also appreciate the crucial input of industry leaders including Aaron Prather of FedEx and representatives from General Motors, DHL, Procter and Gamble, Walmart and many others for helping to shape the outcome of our success. Open Robotics shared important insights that were helpful in steering this in the right direction. Additionally, the teams from Locus Robotics, Seegrid, Mobile Industrial Robots A/S, AutoGuide Mobile Robots , and Third Wave Automation contributed on a regular basis.

Of course none of this would have been possible without the vision of the original founders of MassRobotics: Tye Brady and Steve Paschall of Amazon Robotics as well as Fady Saad and Joyce Sidopoulos of MassRobotics.

Also a big shout out to the board of MassRobotics that has been so supportive throughout the process: Tye Brady of Amazon Robotics, Timothy Rowe of CIC (Cambridge Innovation Center), Colin Angle of IRobot, Tom Hopcroft of Mass Technology Leadership Council, Daniela Rus of MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and C.A. Webb of Kendall Square Association.

And of course a big thanks to Tom Ryden Executive Director of MassRobotics for his tireless leadership of this important organization.

To access the standards visit this link. https://github.com/MassRobotics-AMR/AMR_Interop_Standard