Industrial robotics has moved far beyond the static arrangement of fixed robot arms, which are optimised to the extreme but poorly responsive to change. The management and production of diverse product portfolios can only be achieved with dynamically variable configurations and robots that react flexibly to these. Only a rapidly changing software can provide a meaningful long-term answer to the wide range of problems that arise. This will fundamentally change the way robotics software is developed and the relationship between the different participants of the robotics society (manufacturers, research institutes, start-ups and the open source world). But how can we make the latest scientific results easily reusable? How can a research institute or even a start-up company quickly get access to a new, effective algorithm? There are many similarities with other areas, such as mobile phones, where the path to rapid development has been made possible by different operating systems and their associated infrastructure, development packages and open interfaces. But how do we translate this into a protected, industrial environment? These questions will be explored in this talk.

Robotic Ecosystems