MyRobots

MyRobots is an online social network and cloud-robotics platform designed to connect robots, sensors, and other internet-enabled smart objects. The service presents connected machines as participants in a shared digital environment: robots can publish information about their condition and surroundings, exchange data with other machines, and make selected information available to their human operators. In this model, a robot is not limited to the computing power and sensors physically installed in its body. Internet connectivity allows it to access remote services, share information, and delegate parts of a task to other systems that may be better suited to perform them. The platform was launched by RobotShop in December 2011 and was described as one of the early cloud-robotics initiatives. Its underlying premise is that network access can augment a robot's capabilities in much the same way that social networks allow people to communicate and collaborate. MyRobots therefore occupies a position between a social platform, an Internet-of-Things data service, and a developer infrastructure layer for robotics applications. Rather than being limited to one robot manufacturer or one consumer device, the service was intended to support a broad range of internet-enabled robots and devices. A central component of MyRobots is its RESTful API. Devices and applications can use the API to send information to, or retrieve information from, a channel associated with a robot or device. Channels are identified numerically and contain up to eight fields. These fields can store numerical sensor readings or alphanumeric information originating from serial devices and RFID readers. Additional metadata can include a short status message and the geographical location, including latitude, longitude, and elevation, associated with the data. The resulting collection of field values, status information, and location data is treated as a feed. The API also provides separate write and read keys, allowing applications to control access to channel data. Alerts can be configured so that connected robots or applications react when specified conditions occur. This architecture gives developers a relatively simple way to expose sensor data online, monitor a robot remotely, and build applications around the information generated by connected machines. MyRobots also offered MyRobots Connect, a serial-to-Ethernet gateway intended to link compatible hardware to the platform's data engine. The open-source-hardware module used a Microchip PIC18F67J60 microcontroller to run a TCP/IP stack and received serial commands through an included XBee wireless module. It then forwarded the information to MyRobots servers through a conventional Internet connection. The gateway used DHCP, allowing it to be connected to a router with little configuration. The available reference material documents the platform's launch, API design, and connectivity hardware, but does not establish its current operating status, ownership structure beyond its launch by RobotShop, executive team, financial performance, user base, or present-day market reach. Accordingly, MyRobots is best characterized as a historically documented cloud-robotics and connected-device platform whose current commercial availability requires verification.

MyRobots emerged in December 2011 as a project launched by RobotShop to explore the idea of cloud robotics. At the time, connecting a robot to the Internet was increasingly viewed as a way to extend its capabilities beyond its local hardware and onboard software. MyRobots applied that idea through a social-network-style service in which robots and smart objects could exchange information and expose aspects of their operating state to users and applications. The platform's concept was broader than ordinary remote control. A connected robot could publish sensor observations, status information, and location data, while other machines or software services could retrieve that information. Network participation could allow several robots to collaborate, and could let a robot call on remote systems for processing or task assistance. In this sense, the service framed cloud connectivity as an augmentation of physical machines: robots could become more useful by communicating with other robots, software, and people. The principal technical interface was a RESTful API. MyRobots organized information into channels, also referred to as robots in the API model. Each channel was identified by a numerical ID and could contain up to eight fields. Fields supported numerical sensor measurements as well as alphanumeric data from sources such as serial devices or RFID readers. A channel could also include a short status message and geographic coordinates with elevation. The combination of these values formed a feed that applications could read or update. Access was managed through separate write and read API keys. This allowed a device or application to submit information without necessarily exposing the same permissions for retrieving it. Alerts provided a mechanism for responding to selected conditions, making the system useful for monitoring and event-driven robotics applications as well as for passive data collection. MyRobots complemented its online services with MyRobots Connect, a hardware gateway for devices that communicated through serial interfaces. The module was described as open-source hardware and used a Microchip PIC18F67J60 microcontroller with a TCP/IP stack. An included XBee module received wireless serial commands, while the gateway forwarded those messages to the MyRobots data engine through a standard network connection. DHCP support was intended to simplify installation by allowing the device to obtain network settings automatically from a router. The platform was associated with RobotShop and was listed alongside robotics resources, compatible hardware, and API documentation. The available historical material does not provide a documented sequence of later corporate events, executive appointments, funding rounds, acquisitions, financial results, or confirmed closure. It also does not establish whether the service remains active in its original form. MyRobots is consequently documented primarily as an early cloud-robotics platform and technical ecosystem rather than as a fully documented long-term consumer social network.

1. 2011MyRobots is launched

   RobotShop launches MyRobots in December as an online social network and cloud-robotics service for robots and smart objects.

   Source
2. RESTful API becomes the platform interface

   MyRobots documents an API based on channels, fields, feeds, read and write keys, location data, and alerts for connected robots and devices.

   Source
3. MyRobots Connect is documented

   The platform documents a serial-to-Ethernet gateway intended to connect XBee-equipped hardware with the MyRobots data engine.

   Source

An early cloud-robotics platform that connects robots and smart objects to online data services, enabling machine-to-machine communication, remote monitoring, sensor-data sharing, and collaboration with human operators.

• MyRobots APIDeveloper platform and robotics data API

  A RESTful interface for internet-enabled robots and smart objects. Devices and applications can write sensor readings and other values to numbered channels and retrieve feed data through read access. Channels support up to eight fields, short status messages, and location information. The API also includes separate write and read keys and supports alerts, allowing connected systems to monitor conditions and trigger responses.

• MyRobots ConnectSerial-to-Ethernet robotics gateway

  An open-source-hardware module designed to connect serial devices and compatible robots to the MyRobots data engine. It used a Microchip PIC18F67J60 microcontroller for TCP/IP networking and an XBee module for receiving wireless serial commands. The gateway forwarded device messages through a standard Internet connection and used DHCP to reduce network configuration requirements.

• 2011Launch MyRobots as a cloud-robotics networkProduct launch

  RobotShop positioned MyRobots as an early cloud-robotics initiative based on the idea that Internet connectivity could extend the capabilities of physical robots.

  What changed. The service was introduced as a social network and data platform through which robots and smart objects could share sensor information, status, and location data.

  Aftermath. The documented platform included an API, alerting functions, compatible hardware resources, and the MyRobots Connect gateway. Later operating status is not established in the available sources.

  Source

• 2011RobotShop launches MyRobots cloud-robotics platform

  RobotShop launched MyRobots as an online social network and connected-data service for robots and smart objects. The platform was presented as an early cloud-robotics initiative.

  Product launchOther
  Source
• MyRobots provides a RESTful API for connected devices

  The platform documented an API through which internet-enabled robots and devices could write and read sensor values, statuses, locations, and other feed data.

  Product launchOther
  Source
• MyRobots Connect links serial hardware to the platform

  MyRobots Connect was described as an open-source-hardware serial-to-Ethernet gateway using an XBee module and Internet connectivity to relay device data to MyRobots servers.

  Product launchOther
  Source

1. MyRobots