Domestic robot becomes open source

French robotics company, Robosoft has released the open source software for the development of its Kompaï R&D robot, the interactive robot aimed to assist elderly and dependent people at home.

The open source software will allow anyone that owns the robot, which is already able to speak, understand what is said to it and find its way around the home, to be modified and adapted to enable developers to share their progress with other research teams.

Vincent Dupourqué, chief executive of Robosoft, said: “We believe that robotic solutions to help dependent persons must be customised. The Kompaï R&D robot, designed to develop pilot applications for personal assistants, is now shipped with Open Source Software.

“We believe that this will contribute to the quick development of operational solutions through proven and available equipment, when combined with software tools that can be tailored by developers.”

According to the company, the Kompaï R&D is a modular, open robot which with further development could be equipped with visual abilities, ability to understand and express emotions, advanced to handle objects leading to the completion of everyday tasks such as meal preparation and tidying.

Philippe Bidaud, director of ISIR, from the Robotics Research Laboratory, said: "Open source solutions are needed in the field of assistance robotics.

“Having Open Source application software that’s compatible with existing and available equipment will enable us to develop our research into contents for natural interactions a lot more efficiently. This will also help us to quickly develop full-scale experiments with our medical partners.”

The development of the robot is funded by the European Commission’s Ambient Assisted Living Programme and the French National Agency of Research (ANR).

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