In a major development for the robotics industry, Cogniteam and Real-Time Innovations (RTI) have announced a partnership that promises to streamline robot design, development, and testing through a unified cloud-based platform. This collaboration harnesses the power of RTI's Connext software, based on the Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard, to provide commercially supported communications for Cogniteam's cutting-edge robotic solutions.

The integration of Connext into Cogniteam's platform represents a significant breakthrough in the field of robotic connectivity. Developers can now monitor incoming data from robots in real-time through the cloud, a capability that promises to dramatically improve productivity and efficiency. The companies claim that Cogniteam was able to achieve coding translation from the Robot Operating System (ROS) to ROS 2 in just one month, a feat that typically takes three to six months in the industry.

"New and exciting tools are emerging in robotics aimed at facilitating interconnectivity of systems and components at the edge and in the cloud," said Ari Yakir, vice president of research and discovery at Cogniteam. "Connext did exactly what we needed it to — from adding functionality between libraries to retrieving critical data from the edge device — speeding up our production timeline and advancing robotic platform development."

Cogniteam, with offices in Boston and Petach Tikva, Israel, specializes in providing a low-code development platform, teleoperation capabilities, and a simulation tool for scaling robot fleets. The company recognized the need for tailored communications functionality between ROS and ROS 2, as well as seamless communication between autonomous systems on land, in the air, and on the sea.

Connext's native DDS and commercially-supported ROS Middleware Abstraction Interface (RMW) layer enabled Cogniteam's platform to communicate via the cloud in production and remote settings, providing all the necessary functionality for data acquisition and robot control. Cogniteam selected Connext with the goal of being the first to enable support for a wide range of autonomous robots in a unified way through the cloud.

RTI's trusted distribution partner in Israel, Matrix, oversaw the integration process of Connext with Cogniteam's edge device agent, providing on-site technical enablement and support.

Cogniteam's partnership with RTI follows on the heels of its collaboration with Advantech in December 2023, aimed at accelerating the development of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) through remote monitoring and management.

"Robotics are enabling efficient autonomy and productivity in nearly every vertical," stated Bob Leigh, senior director of commercial markets at RTI. Sunnyvale, California-based Real-Time Innovations positions RTI Connext as a software framework that allows users to build intelligent, distributed systems combining advanced sensing, fast control, and AI algorithms. The company recently demonstrated Connext Drive 3.0 for software-defined vehicles at CES 2024.

"Connext includes an open interface and advanced integration capabilities that slash costs across a system's life cycle, from initial development and integration through ongoing maintenance and upgrades," added Leigh. "We're proud to have a long-standing relationship with Cogniteam and we welcome them to our expansive ecosystem of companies choosing Connext as their commercial DDS solution."

With an impressive portfolio of 2,000 customer designs, RTI claims to help customers transition to production seamlessly. The company's software reportedly runs more than 250 autonomous vehicle programs, supports dozens of advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) and software-defined architectures, and controls the largest power plants in North America. Additionally, RTI's platform integrates over 400 major defense programs, drives a new generation of MedTech systems and robotics, and underlies Canada's air traffic control and NASA's launch-control systems.

As the robotics industry continues to evolve and advance, collaborations like the one between Cogniteam and RTI are poised to play a pivotal role in accelerating innovation and unlocking new frontiers in robotic connectivity, efficiency, and productivity.