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A screenshot of Ubuntu. (Credit: Canonical) This year, surgeons at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital used a robot to conduct eye surgery for the first time ever . Tokyo’s Henn Na Hotel implemented multi-lingual robots to help guests check in . The supermarket chain Schnucks tested an aisle-roaming robot named Tally to identify out-of-stock items and verifying prices. And Tennibot created the world’s first robotic tennis ball collector . These are just a few examples of how robotics is converging with artificial intelligence and machine learning to become one of the most promising and exciting initiatives in the network of smart, internet-connected devices. IDC projects worldwide robotics spending on hardware, software and services will reach $230.7 billion by 2021. Robots are playing a larger and larger role across almost every industry. However, as with many other initiatives in the wider internet of things (IoT) sector, companies shouldn’t just dive in without a well-crafted technological blueprint from the development stage onward to ensure they are building a highly productive, sustainable, future-proof, and secure robot. The right strategy starts with the right operating system (OS). Unfortunately, the importance of the OS isn’t always obvious until the company is too invested to change it, which can lead to a slew of delays or other issues. The OS that’s perfect for hacking things together may be impossible to maintain once the robot reaches production. Similarly, the build-your-own option means maintaining the entire OS (backporting upstream security updates, etc.) for the lifetime of the robot. The OS choice also can influence a company’s monetization route, support offerings, and security strategy. As companies join the robotics revolution, there are a number of essential OS factors to consider that can help or hinder robot development as it moves from development through to production and maintenance. Here are […]