PR2 from Willow Garage : Open Source robotics

Willow Garage has launched an initiative to create and develop Open Source robotics. It is based on its PR2 (Personal Robot 2) physical platform and on its ROS (Robot Operating System) open source software application. Initially the firm will provide ten PR2's to research organizations. The purpose of Willow Garage is encouraging progress in personal robotics, developing reusable components and creating a free global community for researchers and developers. The fields of application for their PR2 beta robot (photos above and below) are multiple: assisting the elderly and people with self-reliance issues (carrying items, preparing food, monitoring medical data, and so on), helping in household chores (dishes, laundry, etc.) and performing various manual operations such as taking and storing objects in cabinets. To watch the video of Willow Garage go to: youtube.com/user/WillowGaragevideo