Technology November 2, 2010, 8:50PM EST

Becoming the Microsoft of the Robot World

Nearly 9 million robots now exist around the world. They can do many things—except share a common operating system

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Robots build our cars and electronics. They sort packages with ease, lift enormous weights, and perform microsurgeries too small for the human eye. In Afghanistan, robots are fighting our wars. What they can't do is share an operating system.

Today approximately 8.6 million robots are around the world, according to IFR World Robotics. That's equal to roughly the population of New Jersey. And most of these have been designed from scratch. For years, tinkerers in garages, professors at universities, and scientists at corporations have essentially been reinventing the wheel each time they develop a new robot. That means designing the hardware and writing the code that drives the actions. From robot welders to robot vacuum cleaners, the robotics industry at this point is essentially siloed.

But maybe not for much longer. Enormous profits await the company that could become the Microsoft (MSFT) of the robotic world. "There is competition over who is going to have the dominant operating system for robots," says Ryan Calo, director of the Consumer Privacy Project at Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society.

Standards are essential to the development and adaptation of technology. Competing standards confuse consumers and hinder progress. For example, the competition between Sony's (SNE) Blu-ray DVD system and Toshiba's (TOSYY:OTC) HD DVD system hurt sales of both systems. The logjam was resolved in 2008 when Toshiba announced it would stop manufacturing its system. As Calo says, "There are a bunch of groups that want to make the top operating system. It really matters."

Open Source or Not?

Robots that respond to humans, make decisions, and operate beyond direct orders are built on incredibly complex software. Just the act of creating a robot that will grasp a cup or smile on being asked a question takes extensive amounts of code.

Multiple companies have released operating systems based on proprietary software. Microsoft released Microsoft Robotics Studio, a robot operating system and software development package in 2007. Evolution Robotics, the maker of the Mint Automatic Floor Cleaner, has a version of operating software called the Evolution Robotics Software Architecture.

Another company, founded in 2006 by ex-Googler Scott Hassan, is trying to create an open-source robot operating system (ROS). Willow Garage began by building a robot, called the PR2, with open-source software. This year, the Menlo Park (Calif.) company gave 11 of them away to research institutions and companies at a total cost of $4 million. The robots went on sale last month at $400,000, or a discounted price of $280,000 to a company or institution with a history of contributing to open-source projects.

By open, Calo says it needs to be "nondedicated as to use, nondiscriminatory as to software, and modular in design." That's what Willow Garage is going for, as well.

Folding Towels, Shooting Pool

"We want it to be the operating system for robotics for the entire industry," says Tim Smith, spokesman for Willow Garage. Georgia Tech researchers have programmed the PR2 to work on elder care, while scientists at Berkeley taught PR2 to fold towels. A PR2 was recently programmed to play pool using an open-source billiards engine posted online.

"You have to be a roboticist to want one of these," Smith said. "They don't help around the house. These are platforms. They don't do much until they are put in the hands of researchers who decide what they will do."

A robot operating system works only for a robot with massive processing power. For designs with smaller computers on board, a complicated ROS doesn't necessarily make sense.