Open Source
At Blue Robotics, we believe that information and knowledge should be shared freely so that more people can build, learn, modify, and innovate. Our products are affordable, well-documented, and part of a growing ecosystem inspired by the people who use them: educators and students, researchers and scientists, tinkerers and creators, and ocean professionals with a job to do.
Our open source philosophy shapes how we build, how we share, and how we grow. And while not everything we do is open source, we’re working to move the marine technology space forward in a more open, accessible direction.
Our software is open source, built with and for the community. From core infrastructure to control interfaces, we design tools that are transparent and flexible. A lot of our code is available on GitHub, where users can explore, contribute, and collaborate. Whether you’re launching a new ROV or developing a custom tool, our software gives you the freedom to build, modify, and explore your way.
[BlueOS]
BlueOS is an open-source, browser-based operating system that makes managing marine, aerial, and ground robots simple. It includes a wide range of user-friendly features along with powerful tools for developers, such as a built-in terminal, file manager, and open service APIs. The open Extensions system makes it possible to run custom programs on the onboard computer and integrate them directly into the BlueOS interface.
[Cockpit]
Cockpit is Blue Robotics’ next-generation control interface, thrusting your vehicle control experience into the future. The whole interface is user configurable, but it’s also possible to display external content and widgets (including from BlueOS Extensions), develop custom widgets from within Cockpit, as well as create custom Actions, and integrate external data into Cockpit’s data lake system.
[ArduPilot]
ArduPilot is an open, community-driven autopilot firmware family, for multiple vehicle types. We are the lead maintainers of the ArduSub variant, which is used in our ROVs, and we also contribute to ArduRover and use it in our BlueBoat. It has extensive support for different flight controller boards, sensors, and peripherals, as well as a rich feature set for both manual and autonomous control, including built in Lua scripting for implementing custom functionality without needing to rebuild the firmware.
[Ping]
Both the Ping Sonar Altimeter and Echosounder and Ping360 Scanning Imaging Sonar communicate using Ping Protocol, an open-source communication standard developed to enable data exchange between underwater sensors and topside systems. The devices are also compatible with Ping-Viewer, an open-source desktop application that lets users visualize sonar data in real time, adjust device settings, and record mission data.
We’ve recently released open-source firmware for the Ping Sonar Altimeter and Echosounder. With open-source firmware, users can explore, customize, and have full control over the sonar’s capabilities allowing them to dive into projects like acoustic positioning, obstacle avoidance, distance tracking algorithms, and environmental sensing.
We don’t think open source should stop at software, so we bring the same philosophy to our hardware. We believe that marine robotics should be buildable, repairable, and customizable by anyone, and that transparency empowers our users to prototype faster, learn more, and contribute back to the community with their own creations.
[Printables]
You can find 3D-printable designs for mounts, brackets, accessories, and other enhancements on Printables.
[CAD Files]
We publish STEP and STL files of our products directly on our website, enabling easy integration and modification.
[Documentation]
Explore guides, tutorials, technical references, and our community forums to get the most out of every project.
For us, openness even goes beyond software and hardware. We believe in open sourcing knowledge too, which is why we’ve created detailed comparison spreadsheets as a resource for the entire industry. We believe specs, features, and pricing should be transparent and easy to find. So if you’re curious about industry products, check out the comparisons below:
