Familiar Robotics provides tactical and strategic de-risking consulting for robotics and automation with a track record of delivering solutions for startups and established companies in agriculture, transportation & logistics, aerospace, hospitality, electronics & more. Book...
Recent Work
Client: Open Navigation LLCProject:ROS2/Nav2 Integration with NVIDIA Isaac Perceptor(Tutorial)Tools/Tech:NVIDIA Jetson,Isaac ROS, Perceptor, nvblox, TensorRT, etc. Client: Space-NG Project: Porting Space-NG Vision Navigation Software to custom machine-vision hardware for use on next-gen lunar lander vehicle. Tools/Tech:...
Get Familiar
…with how I make things go for companies just like yours… I started Familiar Robotics not long after I left Willow Garage in 2014. It didn’t have that name at the time, but I knew...
Get Familiar
…with how I make things go for companies just like yours…
I started Familiar Robotics not long after I left Willow Garage in 2014. It didn’t have that name at the time, but I knew from my experience there as their System and Robot Administrator that there was a real need for somebody who had a broad knowledge of all the things that went into making robots move: the hardware, software, systems & network components that let the robots connect to and interact with the rest of the world, along with other devices like motors, sensors, cameras, & controllers.
Since then, companies such as Google,Savioke, SpaceNG, Open Navigation, RIOS , Parker/LORD-Microstrain , FLX Solutions, Circuit Launch and others have engaged with me for a variety of projects ranging from early-stage hardware prototyping with C code and microcontrollers, troubleshooting USB, network and power problems, to ROS development, simulation with Gazebo and MoveIt!, to scaling their build and systems infrastructure as they ramped their manufacturing capabilities.
Think of me as the connective tissue between all the components of your robot, the people and other systems it interacts with. I know what’s connected to what, how they all move and work together and tug at each other.
Head over to my Calendly to book a quick(or longer!) meeting and let’s chat about how I can make things go for you to! Stephen “Stef” Okay Consulting Roboticist, Familiar Robotics.
Client:Space-NG Project: Porting Space-NGVision Navigation Software to custom machine-vision hardware for use on next-gen lunar lander vehicle. Tools/Tech: OpenCV, OpenGL, GCC, Yocto Linux, Android, NVIDIA CUDA, Leopard Imaging vision sensors & firmware
Client:Polymath Robotics Project: Prototyping and On-site Integration, Platform bring-up & Debugging for autonomous Agricultural and Industrial Vehicles Tools/Tech: LTE/5G, radio & antennas, IP Networking, CAN, GPS/GNSS, LIDAR,RADAR, NVIDIA Jetson, ROS2, CAD, Rapid Prototyping
Client: Frontier Towers, San Francisco, CA. Project: Training and team-building Tools & Tech: course-development, mentorship, 3D-printing, basic robotics and electronics assembly & debugging.
In advance of the 2025 Le Robot Hackathon SF, Frontier Towers approached me for a day-long training session for their members. I led a one-day robot-building bootcamp, teaching about 30 engineers with backgrounds in AI & FinTech, but little to no hardware experience, how to build a robot arm, using the Le Robot SO-ARM100 kit as an example.
A group of engaged, happy robot-builders at Frontier Towers in SF. We did it! Over 30 SO-10x arms ready for the LeRobot Hackathon
Power/Network Adapter box/board developed in-house for Boston Dynamics “SPOT” Robot, feat. 5/12/24V power & POE/Gigabit Ethernet.
Spot with the Familiar SpotBox PoE/Power AdapterBoston Dynamics Spot with a prototype PoE Power/Data board designed by Familiar Robotics
Roboticist in Residence work at Circuit Launch
Doosan Palletizer bring-up
xArm Lite6 grasping training w/ ROS & MoveIt!
Hanging out with a new *BIG* friend, a Doosan palletizer robot.xArm Lite MoveIt! setup Teaching xArm LiteTeaching xArm Lite
The Tenacity Rover
The Tenacity Rover is the workhorse of the lab space here at Familiar. Similar to the rovers at the JPL “Mars Yard”, it gets stuff bolted to it, removed and replaced again, all in the name of testing out new software, sensors and techniques for the projects I’m working on. It has its own Hackaday page and YouTube channel.
The “Tenacity” 3D-printed rover hanging out in the CircuitLaunch parking lot.
Get Familiar
…with how I make things go for companies just like yours…
I started Familiar Robotics not long after I left Willow Garage in 2014. It didn’t have that name at the time, but I knew from my experience there as their System and Robot Administrator that there was a real need for somebody who had a broad knowledge of all the things that went into making robots move: the hardware, software, systems & network components that let the robots connect to and interact with the rest of the world, along with other devices like motors, sensors, cameras, & controllers.
Since then, companies such as Google,Savioke, SpaceNG, Open Navigation, RIOS , Parker/LORD-Microstrain , FLX Solutions, Circuit Launch and others have engaged with me for a variety of projects ranging from early-stage hardware prototyping with C code and microcontrollers, troubleshooting USB, network and power problems, to ROS development, simulation with Gazebo and MoveIt!, to scaling their build and systems infrastructure as they ramped their manufacturing capabilities.
Think of me as the connective tissue between all the components of your robot, the people and other systems it interacts with. I know what’s connected to what, how they all move and work together and tug at each other.
Head over to my Calendly to book a quick(or longer!) meeting and let’s chat about how I can make things go for you to! Stephen “Stef” Okay Consulting Roboticist, Familiar Robotics.
…with how I make things go for companies just like yours…
I started Familiar Robotics not long after I left Willow Garage in 2014. It didn’t have that name at the time, but I knew from my experience there as their System and Robot Administrator that there was a real need for somebody who had a broad knowledge of all the things that went into making robots move: the hardware, software, systems & network components that let the robots connect to and interact with the rest of the world, along with other devices like motors, sensors, cameras, & controllers.
Since then, companies such as Google,Savioke, SpaceNG, Open Navigation, RIOS , Parker/LORD-Microstrain , FLX Solutions, Circuit Launch and others have engaged with me for a variety of projects ranging from early-stage hardware prototyping with C code and microcontrollers, troubleshooting USB, network and power problems, to ROS development, simulation with Gazebo and MoveIt!, to scaling their build and systems infrastructure as they ramped their manufacturing capabilities.
Think of me as the connective tissue between all the components of your robot, the people and other systems it interacts with. I know what’s connected to what, how they all move and work together and tug at each other.
Head over to my Calendly to book a quick(or longer!) meeting and let’s chat about how I can make things go for you to! Stephen “Stef” Okay Consulting Roboticist, Familiar Robotics.
