As part of our 10-year anniversary, we've selected a few key early contributors and asked them about their experiences with ROS.
Name: Vladimir Ermakov
Company: Co-Founder and CEO, GlobeIn
Favorite Fictional Robot: R. Daneel Olivaw; Robert from His name was Robert; Electronic from The adventures of Electronica
How did you get into robotics?
Firstly I was interested by electronics at school, later I was interested in programming, and hobby robotics is the area where both of these interests crossed. Also, science fiction books.
How did you first hear about ROS?
Somewhere on the Internet I'd heard about systems like the Player/Stage Project, and later I learned about ROS when Willow Garage presented the PR2.
What is your current area of ROS development?
Mavros, which is an extendable communication node that allows a ROS system to command hobbyist flying drones. It now also includes ground rovers and underwater robots.
What has been your favorite ROS-based project you've worked on?
I started a hobby project of a flying plane that should have been able to do dynamic path planning. That project didn't succeed, but as a side project, I made a comm node that was later accepted by the ROS community. It's incredible what people have done using my node.
This is part of an ongoing series: ROS Contributor Spotlight
Have your own ROS story to tell? Let us know at comm@openrobotics.org. And be sure to check back when we celebrate the 25th, 50th, and 100-year anniversaries of ROS.
