Acutronic Robotics Unveils New H-ROS SoM Designed for Developing Modular Robotic Components

Acutronic Robotics has designed a new Arm-based H-ROS (Hardware Robot Operating System) SoM module for the easy development of robotic components. The company has also built a modular robotic arm, known as MARA (Module Articulated Robotic Arm), to highlight their H-ROS technology.

While Acutronic Robotics’ is targeting industrial, automotive, professional, and service applications for their system, the versatile platform also has potential in the hobbyist and maker communities as well. With that said, the SoM was created to quickly construct “industrial-grade plug-and-play robotic modules,” an all-in-one platform that integrates the hardware and software needed to do so in a single package.

As far as the hardware goes, the H-ROS module uses a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 SoC, along with a host of sensors that include a 9-axis IMU, 12-bit 4-channel ADC, voltage/current, and a cryptographic chip. It’s also equipped with a host of reconfigurable I/Os- 2X Gigabit Ethernet (with TSN), CAN, I2C, SPI, UART, JTAG, EtherCAT, GPIO, and more.

The software running on the module is an unnamed Linux-based RTOS with an enhanced ROS 2.0 (Bouncy Bolson) stack, which supports several different network architectures. It also offers a level of onboard security through encryption/authentication to prevent intrusion to critical systems.

To showcase what the H-ROS module is capable of, Acutronic Robotics designed MARA — a modular robotic arm that’s driven by HANS D-motor actuators with industrial-grade features- including synchronization and deterministic communication latencies. Each arm section (single or multiple) houses a myriad of sensors — accelerometers, magnetometers, and gyroscopes to provide inertial data, allowing each arm section to automatically be reconfigured based on the application.

For those interested in the H-ROS SoM, the module is available now, although you will need to contact Acutronic Robotics for prices, and the MARA robotic arm will be available for pre-order at some point in the near future.