SwRI, robot manufacturer sign collaboration agreement

San Antonio — Aug. 31, 2011 — Southwest Research Institute^® (SwRI^®) and the Motoman Robotics Division of Yaskawa America, Inc. have entered into a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on integrating Motoman Robotics' line of industrial robots with the open-source ROS (Robot Operating System) software.

The collaboration will seek to develop, demonstrate and release to the open-source community an interface between Motoman® robots and ROS.

Motoman Robotics' line of industrial robots covers a variety of industrial automation applications in nearly every industry. ROS provides an open framework for developing advanced robotic solutions. It has a growing community of developers focusing on open-source software stacks for all aspects of robotic systems.

SwRI, as an independent, non-profit applied research and development organization, provides expertise in bringing fundamental research and technology to bear in industrial applications.

For more information about SwRI's work with robotics, see http://robotics.swri.org or contact Clay Flannigan at (210) 522-6805 or clay.flannigan@swri.org.

For more information, contact Joe Fohn, (210) 522-4630, Communications Department, Southwest Research Institute, PO Drawer 28510, San Antonio, TX 78228-0510.