pib V2025 roadmap and strategy

Owned by Mazen Mohsen
Sept 18, 2024
2 min read

pib has two stable releases, V2023 and V2024, and now it's time to enhance and innovate further with the V2025 release. The primary focus will be on introducing pib pro, an advanced variant aimed at research institutions and universities, providing superior capabilities and performance while maintaining affordability through open-source collaboration and in-house innovation.

Key Focus Areas

The roadmap focuses on two primary development tracks:

  1. Improvements to the core pib platform (minor updates).

  2. Development of pib pro – A high-performance version of pib with advanced features and components.

Development Goals for V2025

1. Core pib Enhancements

Minor improvements will be made to the existing pib model to refine its usability, aesthetics, and interactivity. Some goals include:

  • Joint mechanics:

    • Improve hand grip by increasing the range of motion with an additional finger joint.

    • Enhance wrist joint for better mobility and durability.

    • Improve elbow joint design to look more aesthetic and resemble shoulder joint

  • Assembly and Durability:

    • Reduce the number of screws and unnecessary parts to simplify assembly.

    • Implement snap-fits where possible to eliminate screws.

    • Reinforce structurally weak parts by increasing wall thickness or designing ribs.

  • Interactivity and Voice Control:

    • Integrate a projector into the upperbody to help teachers stream relevant material

    • Change used speakers to louder and clearer ones

    • Switch microphone to a crisp and clear microphone array.

    • Include Tinkerforge Color button for shortcuts like running imitation script or voice assistant

  • Electronics

    • Switch to Rpi 5 8gb ram version to accommodate more ROS2 nodes running in background

    • Use one power supply instead of 2 while still providing enough power to all peripherals

2. pib pro Development

pib pro is an advanced variant of the core pib platform, designed to meet the needs of universities and research institutions with enhanced precision, performance, and capabilities.

  • Target Audience: Universities, research institutions, and advanced robotics labs.

  • Development Status: The beta version, currently deployed at the University of Nuremberg, serves as the starting point for pib pro.

Upgrades from core version:

  • Main Processor:

    • Nvidia Jetson Mate cluster board with Jetson Xavier for high computational performance.

  • Sensors:

    • Oak-D-pro-W camera with vision core 4 for improved perception.

    • Integration of IMU and GPS sensors for better navigation and localization.

    • Tactile sensors in newly designed hand for force sensing

  • Power Supply:

    • Shift from wired power supply to battery-powered operations for enhanced mobility.

  • Motors:

    • Feetech serial servo motors for fingers, neck and central rotators

    • Smart high torque actuators using Eagle power brushless motors and Mjbots r4 controller.

  • Mobile Lower Body:

    • Mobile lower body using base design of SK80

  • New Hand Design:

    • Redesign the hand for better grip strength and dexterity.

    • Add a soft layer for improved grip (TPU as an option)

    • Add degree of freedom for making fingers close to each other

  • Mechanics:

    • Use ABS instead of PETG for 3D printed parts to increase durability.

Roadmap Timeline

The goals outlined in this roadmap will be broken down into individual epics and tasks to be added to the project management board. Each goal will be tagged with appropriate labels (pro/edu) for easy tracking and filtering on the timeline.