ROS in non robotic systems

Hi Ros community,

I have started working with Ros for a robotic system around a month ago. The tools and the environment is really in my favor.

Some of the tools would have made my work a lot easier in past projects.

Would you recommend to use Ros for a non robotic application?

Currently I don't have anything specific, but I think a test rig for measuring things with different sensors, could be a good application.

I am really looking forward to your thoughts about this topic.

Asked by goldfisch on 2019-04-03 01:25:23 UTC

Comments

This has been done before by quite a few companies actually, including O(S)R(F) themselves. If you can be a bit more specific about which tools you are referring to, answers could potentially also be more specific than just "yes, that can be done".

Asked by gvdhoorn on 2019-04-03 04:13:34 UTC

Hello goldfisch, welcome to the community !

I think this question is too subjective as the #2 of the FAQ (https://answers.ros.org/faq/) says. Some people will recommend it, some will not, there is a lot of talking involved.

The answers to "Can I use ROS in non robotic system" is yes, as ROS is just a framework that can be used everywhere. A lot of ROS project are robots-centered but you can find some like https://discourse.ros.org/t/flask-ask-ros-a-ros-node-inside-an-amazon-alexa-web-service/4618 , https://discourse.ros.org/t/facsvatar-facial-expression-to-avatar-animation-ros-integration/4132 and my favorite : https://discourse.ros.org/t/ros-openlighting-for-interactive-art/2979 which don't use robot directly.

These project can be used in robotics application, with real robots. A test rig for sensors can be used with robots (As in a quality check with robots at the end of a production line), or not.

Cheers, (5min late)

Asked by lmathieu on 2019-04-03 04:19:17 UTC

I actually know a pinball machine manufacturer that uses ROS to actuate and trigger things on their games!

Asked by stevemacenski on 2019-04-03 12:00:57 UTC