Gumstix announced official support for ROS, the open source Robot Operating System originally created by Willow Garage, on its ARM-based line of Overo COMs. ROS provides a software framework for robot software development on Unix-like systems, with official support for Ubuntu and a large community of users. Gumstix' announcement of official ROS support accompanies the introduction of a bootable microSD card featuring Linaro 12.11 LTS and ROS preloaded, as well as an image available for download. ROS binaries were previously only available for Intel, AMD or ARMEL architectures, requiring all ARMHF-based implementations to be compiled from source. While Gumstix users are still able to build ROS from source on an existing Overo with Ubuntu system, users are now also able to flash an Ubuntu with ROS image to their Overo COM, thus eliminating a serious impediment to ROS development. "Last June, Gumstix announced its TurtleCore expansion board as a platform for ROS development on the iRobot Create," said W. Gordon Kruberg, president and CEO of Gumstix. "The ability to deploy an available ROS binary on our Overo line of COMs complements the goal initially set forth with the introduction of the TurtleCore: to provide the most powerful development system for roboticists in the smallest form factor. This image and the microSD release now provide that software with minimum development time and greater ease." For more information, visit Gumstix. Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.
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