The robotics community needs to easily reproduce whole research systems. This would allow
multiple research groups to build large systems by extending, modifying, and integrating
existing components. The community has made great progress using open source software,
via the ROS ecosystem [8], which enables software components to be shared and to grow in
this way. But it lacks standard open hardware platforms on which to run this software.
A few manufacturers have invested in creating open source software models of their proprietary
hardware robots which currently function as de facto standards. However many researchers,
especially in developing countries, cannot afford these commercial products. Like all proprietary
products, they pose a lock-in risk to systems building upon them that the companies or products
may vanish or increase their prices at any time. They may also be both technically and legally
difficult to modify for new research needs.
Much of mobile robotics research and real-world deployment requires vehicles around 0.5 m in
length and carrying around 15 kg of load, which have become de factostandards in many cases. 15
kg is roughly what a human can comfortably carry in a backpack or in their arms [11]. For research,
such vehicles are small enough to cause minimal damage if colliding with a person or obstacle,
while being able to carry batteries, sensors, and computers needed by research algorithms. For
deployment, they can carry packages such as last-mile parcel and supermarket deliveries or
restaurant food orders. Examples of proprietary vehicles in this class include the Clearpath Husky
and Jackal, Pioneer-3 DX, Summit XL, AgileX, Bulldog, Leo Rover, and Husarion robots.
Open Source Hardware (OSH) is a recent movement [6] modelled on previous developments
in Open Source Software [18] to enable cumulative collaboration in hardware designs.
Presenting a first research design as OSH enables it to be extended gradually by the
community and develop into a robust and deployable solution. OSH does not simply mean
publishing CAD files of a design, rather it has a legal definition which requires the complete
design to be easily available, buildable, and modifiable by anyone from commodity
components. In addition to CAD files, this means provision of clear and well-tested step-
by-step build instructions in the style of Lego or Ikea. OSH designs may only make use of
components which are easily available on the open market. The emerging convention [6]
in OSH is that reviewers check not just a paper but also a repository containing the design,
build instructions, and licence, for OSH compliance.
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