Open-source robotics: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:37, 27 April 2025

Revision as of 09:46, 3 May 2025

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==Requirements==

Open source robotics means that information about the hardware is easily discerned, so that others can easily rebuild it. In turn, this requires design to use only easily available [[standardization|standard]] subcomponents and tools, and for the build process to be documented in detail including a [[bill of materials]] and detailed ('Ikea style') step-by-step building and testing instructions. (A CAD file alone is not sufficient, as it does not show the steps for performing or testing the build). These requirements are standard to [[open source hardware]] in general, and are formalised by various licences, certifications, especially those defined by the peer-reviewed journals [[HardwareX]] and [[Journal of Open Hardware]] and [[HardwareX]].

Licensing requirements for software are the same as for any [[open source software]]. But in addition, for software components to be of practical use in real robot systems, they need to be compatible with other software, usually as defined by some [[robotics middleware]] community standard.