PR2

PR2 (Personal Robot 2) was a mobile manipulation platform built by Willow Garage. At $400,000, it was never a commercial product — but it changed robotics forever by being the reference platform for ROS (Robot Operating System). PR2 could fold towels, fetch beer, and navigate office environments. More importantly, every researcher using PR2 contributed back to ROS, creating a shared software ecosystem. When Willow Garage shut down, ROS lived on and became the de facto standard for robotics software worldwide. Today, ROS runs on robots from Amazon warehouses to Mars rovers. PR2 the robot is forgotten; the platform it created is everywhere.