Brian Gerkey, co-founder and CEO of Open Robotics, will deliver the opening keynote presentation at the Robotics Summit & Expo. The international event is focused on the technical issues involved with the design, development, manufacture, and delivery of commercial robots. The Robotics Summit & Expo takes place May 10-11 in Boston at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

Gerkey’s keynote, called “Robotics Needs a Babelfish: The Skinny on Robot Interoperability,” will take place May 10 from 8:45 AM to 9:30 AM. Gerkey will discuss how companies are addressing interoperability and what options are available to vendors, end users, and integrators.

Labor challenges and worker safety led to a rise in robot deployments in the past few years. More deployments, however, meant more integration challenges. Companies now want their disparate robot fleets to work together. That means robots from different vendors are going to need to find common ground because their customers will demand it.

Attendees of Gerkey’s talk will learn:

• The history of Open-RMF (Robotics Middleware Framework)
• Best practices in multiple vendor robot interoperability
• Future interoperability trends

“We are thrilled to have Brian Gerkey deliver a keynote at the Robotics Summit,” said Steve Crowe, co-chair of the event. “Interoperability is going to play a critical role in the growth of the global robotics industry. Open Robotics has been at the forefront of interoperability with its Open-RMF technology that enables robots from different vendors to work seamlessly together.”

Open Robotics drives the development and adoption of open software and hardware for robotics, including the popular Robot Operating System (ROS) and Ignition simulator. Prior to Open Robotics, Gerkey worked at Willow Garage, SRI, Stanford University, and the University of Southern California. He is a strong believer in, frequent contributor to, and constant beneficiary of open-source technology.

The Robotics Summit & Expo will feature 100-plus exhibitors, 50-plus speakers, the MassRobotics Engineering Career Fair, a Design for Additive Manufacturing Workshop, and networking receptions. Attendees also have the chance to test drive Boston Dynamics’ Spot quadruped. Full conference passes are $795, while expo-only passes are just $100. Academic discounts are available and academic full conference rates are $295. Register today.

Co-Located Events
The Robotics Summit & Expo will be co-located with the Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum, a conference focused on easing and speeding the development of the next generation of healthcare robotics solutions. Also co-located with the Robotics Summit event is DeviceTalks Boston, the premier industry event for medical technology professionals, currently in its ninth year. Both events attract engineering and business professionals from a broad range of healthcare and medical technology backgrounds.

Gerkey will also discuss interoperability during the Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum. In a session called “Bringing Interoperable Traffic Control to Healthcare,” he will discuss Open Robotics’ work with Singapore’s Centre for Healthcare Assistive and Robotics Technology (CHART).

Sponsorship Opportunities
For information about sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, download the prospectus. Question regarding sponsorship opportunities should be directed to Courtney Nagle at cnagle[AT]wtwhmedia.com.

About WTWH Media
WTWH Media is an integrated media company serving engineering, business and investment professionals through 50+ websites, print publications, along with many other technical and business events. WTWH’s Robotics Group produces The Robot Report, Robotics Business Review, Collaborative Robotics Trends and Mobile Robot Guide, online technical, business and investment news and information portals focused on robotics and intelligent systems. WTWH Media also produces leading in-person robotics conferences including the Robotics Summit & Expo, the RoboBusiness Conference & Exposition and the Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum. See www.wtwhmedia.com for more information.