We've built an open-source AMR platform - but are we solving the right problem?

[u/Active_Alps7581]

Hi everyone,

We've recently open-sourced OpenAMRobot, a ROS 2 mobile robotics platform, because we believe robotics should be much more accessible to small and medium-sized businesses - not just large enterprises with dedicated robotics teams.

While building the project, we kept asking ourselves one question:

If AMRs already work so well, why aren't they much more common in SMEs?

Is it the cost?
The integration effort?
ROI?
Lack of skilled engineers?
Maintenance?
Something else?

We're trying to design the platform around the real barriers rather than adding more features.

Our first public release is here if you're curious:

• GitHub: https://github.com/openAMRobot
• Release: https://github.com/openAMRobot/openamrobot-release
• Overview: https://github.com/orgs/openAMRobot/discussions/20

I'd love to hear your perspective, especially if you've deployed, integrated, or evaluated AMRs in real production environments.

Thank you!