Analysis:
Essentials are a logical product extension for robotics platform developer Avular. The company made a name for itself by developing both a complete flying drone platform and an AMR platform. Essentials productizes the necessary real-time computing components for building a mobile robot of almost any size. The units are available in three different industrial form factors.

The Exploration version is the least expensive, and designed for prototyping new systems. The Industrial version is production ready, waterproof (IP65) and includes industrial connectors. The Rugged version is production ready and the most expensive version. It’s designed for the most demanding outdoor mobile robotic platforms, costing twice as much as the Exploration version. Robot builders will still need to design, spec and source the motors, gear train and motor amplifiers for their robot.

Avular also develops the real-time operating system Cerebra, and Cerebra can be easily deployed onto any of the Essentials units to configure, control and program your robotic application. Essentials are also compatible with the ROS software for developers that prefer an open-source development platform. - Mike Oitzman