Why go through all this trouble? Because we love robots - and we want to see them all around us - soon!
So how do we materialize this vision? This is the million dollar question. The short answer is that we have to prove there is a market for personal robots, and then incentivize people to invest in robotics. Our three Objectives (as stated above), aim to accomplish exactly that.
First, the very existence of this community (and the many great ones similar to it) speak to the appetite that exists in the marketplace for affordable and capable personal robots. In creating and nurturing this community however, we must strive for more than just engineers and scientists. We must get everyone involved. Not all people who purchase a LunaOS robot will be a roboticist. But their input is paramount in creating something that is more than just a computer-on-wheels, something that has been done over and over for the past thirty years. It is critical therefore, that we get the involvement and the input of everyone. So go ahead... invite your friends and get them to chime in on what kind of robot they would like to see... and together, we will build that robot, and many others like it.
Second, we must strive for standards to be developed, so that code can be re-used and hardware can conform. A robotic arm is no good if it doesn't work on all available robots. If there are no standards, it is far less likely that people will invest in making robots or robotic accessories. PCs provide a great example here. They agreed on common standards, such as USB, which enables a multitude of companies to invest in and commercialize PC accessories such as keyboards/mice/webcams, etc. It is up to us to strive for similar standards, which reduce risk while maximizing potential, thereby incentivizing people to invest in robotics.
Finally, we must create a level playing field. Proprietary systems are never good for the consumer in the long run. There are many examples of this, ironically in PCs. The dominance of a single operating system that is closed off to innovations from 3rd parties
(Windows) has directly lead to lower quality and higher prices for the consumer. By remaining open and flexible, we not only reduce the investment burden from any single company, but we allow a multitude of smart and dedicated people to bring innovative solutions to the field of robotics, leading to simultaneously lower prices, higher quality, and more choice for the consumer.
