US company Willow Garage has launched the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF). The mission of the non-profit organisation is to support the development, distribution, and adoption of open source software for use in robotics research, education, and product development.

Founded in March, the OSRF has now announced its board of directors. Current directors include Professor Wolfram Bungard, who leads the Laboratory for Autonomous Intelligent Systems at the University of Freiburg; Ryan Gariepy, co-founder and CTO of Clearpath Robotics; Brian Gerky, Director of Open Source Development at Willow Garage; Helen Greiner, co-founder of iRobot and currently CEO of CyPhyWorks; and Sam Park of South Korean robotics company Yujin Robot.

Willow Garage released its Robot Operating System (ROS) under a BSD licence a few years ago and has already significantly influenced robotics development. The latest version of ROS, code-named "Fuerte Turtle", was released last month. As one of its first projects, the OSRF plans to participate in the DARPA Robotics Challenge. The aim of the challenge is to develop humanoid robots that can help with paramedic and rescue operations after natural disasters or industrial accidents.

(fab)