Willow Garage
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Robotics |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Founder | Scott Hassan |
| Defunct | 2014 |
| Headquarters | Menlo Park, California , United States |
Key people | Steve Cousins (CEO) |
| Products | Robot Operating System (ROS), PR2 robot, Texai system |
Willow Garage functioned as a research laboratory and innovation hub dedicated to advancing hardware and open source software tailored for personal robotics. Established in 2006 by entrepreneur Scott Hassan, recognized for his contributions to Google Search development, the firm gained significant recognition following the 2010 launch of its Robot Operating System (ROS). This platform rapidly became a fundamental resource for robotics researchers, significantly boosting Willow Garage’s standing within the robotics sector. The company was managed by CEO Steve Cousins from its base in Menlo Park, California.
Operations at Willow Garage concluded in early 2014. The majority of its workforce moved to Suitable Technologies, Inc., while Clearpath Robotics assumed responsibility for ongoing support and service activities. Although the company ceased functioning, its website remained accessible until April 2021.
History
In January 2007, Willow Garage onboarded its initial team members, including Jonathan Stark, Melonee Wise, Curt Meyers, and John Hsu. These individuals were recruited by founder Scott Hassan to contribute to initial projects such as developing an SUV for the DARPA Grand Challenge (2007) and constructing an autonomous solar-powered vessel. During the autumn of 2008, Eric Berger and Keenan Wyrobek proposed establishing unified hardware (PR1) and software (ROS) platforms. This idea led to the creation of the Personal Robotics Program, which concentrated on developing the PR2 robot alongside the open source Robot Operating System (ROS), both central to Willow Garage’s strategic business approach.
By late 2008, the company had merged its DARPA and autonomous boat teams into the Personal Robotics Program. A major breakthrough occurred in 2009 when the PR2 robot demonstrated advanced capabilities by autonomously opening doors and connecting itself to power sources, showcasing technological progress with strong implications for commercial expansion.
The release of ROS version 1.0 in January 2010 marked a pivotal moment, coinciding with preparations for PR2’s beta production phase—significant steps forward in product development and commercial strategy. By year-end 2010, with PR2 units available on the market and an expanding ROS user base, co-directors Wyrobek and Berger exited to pursue other ventures.
Willow Garage fostered at least seven spin-off companies that broadened its industry reach and diversified its business operations:
- hiDOF, Inc., a software consultancy acquired by Google in 2013.
- Industrial Perception Inc., specializing in robotic solutions for logistics; purchased by Google in August 2013.
- Open Perception Foundation, dedicated to advancing open source software for sensory data analysis.
- Open Robotics, a nonprofit organization supporting open source robotics software development.
- Redwood Robotics, a collaboration with Meka Robotics and SRI International focusing on robotic arm technology; acquired by Google in 2013.
- Suitable Technologies, developer of the Texai remote presence robot.
- Unbounded Robotics, providing affordable mobile manipulation platforms.
In 2012, Willow Garage joined forces with Meka Robotics and SRI International to establish Redwood Robotics, reinforcing its leadership position in robotic arm innovation.
By August 2013, Suitable Technologies had absorbed most of Willow Garage’s staff to advance its Beam™ remote presence product. Willow Garage continued servicing PR2 customers and selling remaining units until it officially closed in 2014.
Several former team members have since founded successful startups that extend Willow Garage’s influence across the robotics market:
- Zipline International Inc., co-founded by Keenan Wyrobek, specializes in drone delivery of medical supplies.
- Savioke, led by ex-CEO Steve Cousins, creates service robots tailored for hospitality environments.
- Fetch Robotics, under Melonee Wise’s guidance, manufactures autonomous mobile robots designed for logistics applications.
- Fyusion, established by Radu Rusu, develops sophisticated 2.5D imaging technologies.
These spin-offs highlight Willow Garage’s function as a fertile incubator for startups and underscore its enduring contribution to robotics through innovation leadership and strategic investments.
Open source software
Willow Garage was responsible for the stewardship of several prominent open-source initiatives, including the Robot Operating System (ROS), the OpenCV computer vision toolkit, and the Point Cloud Library (PCL), all distributed under BSD licenses. The ongoing development of ROS has since been transferred to Open Robotics.
Robots
The PR2 robot represents Willow Garage's premier platform, designed as a unified hardware and software solution to advance robotics research. Building on the foundation set by Stanford University's PR1, the PR2 is equipped with two 7-DOF arms capable of handling loads up to 1.8 kg, a 5-megapixel imaging camera, a tilting laser range finder, and an inertial measurement unit. It employs a "texture projector" that utilizes structured light technology to generate three-dimensional maps of its surroundings. The robot’s computing power comes from dual 8-core servers complemented by 48 GB of RAM and sixteen laptop batteries, enabling it to perform sophisticated operations. The mechanical design was overseen by Keenan Wyrobek in collaboration with Function Engineering.
In May 2010, Willow Garage demonstrated eleven PR2 units during a graduation event that showcased their functionalities through interactive presentations and telepresence capabilities using the Texai system. Texai subsequently evolved into Suitable Technologies, which introduced the Beam telepresence product in 2012.
By June 2010, Willow Garage had provided PR2 robots on loan to eleven research groups for a two-year period, supplying both the physical robots and the open-source ROS platform to encourage innovation and cooperative development within the robotics community. The PR2 became commercially available by August 2010.
The PR2 is designed for complex tasks such as opening doors and folding towels. Its comprehensive 3D models facilitate simulation environments where developers can virtually test sensor inputs and joint articulation before deployment.
See also
External links
- Technology companies established in 2006
- Robotics companies of the United States
- Companies based in Menlo Park, California
- Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
- 2006 establishments in California
- American companies established in 2006
- Companies of the United States by year of establishment