Hi everyone,
I wanted to introduce OLO Robotics, a UK-based robotics software company building a browser-based platform for programming, simulating, visualising and controlling robots using ROS 2.
Our aim is not to replace ROS 2, Gazebo, Nav2, MoveIt 2 or the wider open robotics ecosystem. It is the opposite: we are trying to make those tools easier to access, combine and use, particularly for developers, researchers, students and organisations who want to work with robots but may not want to spend their first few days wrestling with local setup, networking, visualisation, simulation and deployment.
At a high level, OLO provides:
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Cloud-hosted robot simulation in the browser
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A live 3D visualiser / digital twin
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Browser-based programming using Python and JavaScript
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Teleoperation and robot control
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ROS 2 connectivity through an edge “appliance” running on the robot’s network
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Support for real robots and simulated robots through the same interface
The platform is built around ROS 2 concepts rather than hiding them completely. Users can work at a high level when they want to, but the underlying model still maps onto topics, services, actions, frames, robot descriptions and standard ROS 2 workflows. We want it to be useful for people learning robotics, but also credible for people already working with ROS 2.
One of the things we are particularly interested in is reducing the friction between simulation and real hardware. For example, a user should be able to start with a robot in a browser-based simulation, write code against it, visualise what is happening, and then move towards a real robot with as little conceptual shift as possible.
We have just opened the platform more widely and would really value input from the ROS community.
In particular, I’d be interested in feedback on:
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Where tools like this can genuinely help the ROS 2 ecosystem
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Where we should be careful not to abstract too much away
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What experienced ROS users would expect from a platform like this
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What would make it useful for education, prototyping or early-stage robot development
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Whether there are existing projects, packages or conventions we should be aligning with more closely
We are very conscious that this community has built a huge amount of the foundation that makes platforms like ours possible. So I wanted to introduce OLO here properly, explain what we are trying to do, and open up the conversation.
Website: https://olo-robotics.com
You can also set up a free account here. Cloud simulation is currently completely free although this will move to a paid-for service: OLO Robot Management System
I’d be very happy to answer questions, share more technical detail, or hear blunt feedback.
Thanks,
Nick Thompson (CEO)