ROS in non robotic systems

asked 2019-04-03 01:25:23 -0600

goldfisch gravatar image

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.

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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".

gvdhoorn gravatar image gvdhoorn  ( 2019-04-03 04:13:34 -0600 )edit
1

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... , https://discourse.ros.org/t/facsvatar... and my favorite : https://discourse.ros.org/t/ros-openl... 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)

lmathieu gravatar image lmathieu  ( 2019-04-03 04:19:17 -0600 )edit

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

stevemacenski gravatar image stevemacenski  ( 2019-04-03 12:00:57 -0600 )edit