Summary:

 

OpenMind’s OM1 is a next-generation, open-source operating system built for humanoid and other robot platforms. Launched in 2025, it supports vision, language, motion planning, and cross-hardware compatibility — creating a shared intelligence foundation rather than bespoke software stacks. With its companion FABRIC protocol, robots can verify peers, share skills, and collaborate in real-time. This marks a shift from individual robot hardware to networked robotic ecosystems.

 

Editorial:

 

In robotics, hardware breakthroughs often steal the spotlight — taller robots, faster actuators, lifelike limbs. But software, the brain of the machine, has largely lagged behind. That’s the gap OpenMind is addressing with its OM1 platform.

 

Founded in 2024 by Stanford professor Jan Liphardt, OpenMind describes OM1 as the “Android” of robotics: an open-source, hardware-agnostic intelligence layer meant to run across humanoids, quadrupeds, drones and more. As TechCrunch reports, OM1 enables developers to “install fully autonomous software on robots without being locked into a single ecosystem.” 

 

Editorial:

 

OM1 delivers core capabilities: perception modules (vision + audio), interface to large-language models, motion planning, and high-level unity across chassis types. It claims plug-and-play support for platforms like the Unitree G1 humanoid. 

 

A key companion is the FABRIC protocol — a decentralized communication layer enabling robots to verify identity, share learned behaviors and coordinate without human intervention. By making robots network-aware, OpenMind moves from singular bots to collective ecosystems. 

 

While hardware progress still matters, OM1’s ambition lies in layering intelligence over hardware diversity — removing reinventing-the-wheel cycles so robot makers focus on limbs, sensors and real-world applications.

 

Challenges remain: open-source OSes can fragment if standards fail; safety standards for networked robot swarms are still nascent; and field-proven deployments of OM1-powered humanoids are not yet public.

 

Nevertheless, for Humanoid Press readers, OM1 is worth watching because it signals where the industry may be going: not different robots for each use-case, but one intelligent foundation for many. In other words, the next evolution in humanoid robotics may not be about new body types, but about smarter brains that work across machines.

 

Image: YouTube openmind