MoveIt Pro 9.0 Upgrades with Enhanced Perception and Teleoperation

According to PickNik, MoveIt Pro 9.0 allows robots to work efficiently in settings with shifting geometry and diverse surfaces. | Source: PickNik Robotics

PickNik Inc. has launched MoveIt Pro 9.0, the newest iteration of its platform for building robotic arm applications. This update introduces improved perception-to-motion features and a completely redesigned system for teleoperation and training data collection.

The Boulder, Colo.-based company stated that these enhancements will assist developers in addressing high-mix, low-volume applications, which have historically been challenging for robotics.

"We're observing a few key industry trends. One is the rise of agentic coding, which is making it quicker and simpler to create robotic demonstrations," Dave Grant, CEO of PickNik, told The Robot Report. "While it's easier than ever to produce a flawed demo that never progresses, our focus is shifting decisively toward platform reliability and achieving execution that comes as close as possible to 100% success."

MoveIt Pro 9.0 excels at surface-driven tasks

The latest MoveIt Pro release offers:

PickNik Robotics explains that these features empower robots to handle surface-driven tasks more effectively. This involves scanning an object's geometry in real time and producing safe, collision-aware toolpaths across varying contours. Consequently, the system is suitable for diverse manufacturing uses, such as cleaning and painting, and a wide array of tasks.

In the vehicle-care industry, Denver-based Autowash utilizes MoveIt Pro to automate surface-aware washing for vehicles of different shapes and sizes.

"Every vehicle has unique contours and surface conditions," noted Dennis Dreeszen, co-founder and CEO of Autowash. "MoveIt Pro's perception-to-motion pipeline lets us achieve consistent coverage while ensuring safe operation around unpredictable geometry."

Grant added that by using MoveIt Pro, Autowash reduced its energy and water consumption by approximately 40%, as the company could generate customized wash plans for each individual car.

Editor’s note: Dave Coleman, founder and chief product officer of PickNik Robotics, will participate in a panel titled "Productionizing AI in Robotic Systems" at next month's Robotics Summit & Expo. Registration is currently open.

Teleoperation enables faster market entry

Beyond the perception-to-motion upgrades, PickNik has overhauled its teleoperation and training data collection system. The new version includes integrated collision checking, multi-arm support, and coordinated mobile manipulation control.

"We've incorporated basic teleoperation capability from the very beginning, since our initial funder for MoveIt Pro was NASA," Grant explained. "NASA requires that any robot action in space can also be teleoperated for pre-approved tasks. So, teleoperation is part of our core DNA."

Initially, PickNik didn't anticipate that its teleoperation technology would be used for robot training. "We expanded and enhanced the system because there's significant growth in robot training and data collection," Grant said.

"My sense is that the industry became overly fixated on achieving 100% autonomy at some point," he continued. "From an outsider's perspective, if I hired a new employee, I wouldn't expect them to be 100% independent all the time. I'd be satisfied if they worked independently nine times out of ten, and only needed to ask for help or clarification once."

Grant noted that several PickNik customers are more focused on removing people from hazardous or unpleasant jobs than on reducing staff numbers. This makes teleoperation a valuable opportunity.

"You can perform actual production work while gathering robot training data. This leads to a higher degree of autonomy, allowing you to scale operations," Grant stated. "It's the same full-time equivalent employee, but perhaps a month later, that person is managing two robots, then three, or four."

PickNik introduces interface upgrades in latest release

PickNik is also launching a fully refreshed user interface that enhances debugging, visualization, and workflow configuration for robotics development teams. Grant mentioned that many of these interface improvements were inspired by direct customer feedback.

"Many of these changes seem straightforward. For instance, while developing in MoveIt Pro, you could previously open four window panes; now you can open six and resize them," he said. "We've also focused on reducing the number of keystrokes and mouse movements required. It's all about boosting our customers' productivity."

Customer feedback on MoveIt 9.0 is positive

Besides Autowash, PickNik has already deployed MoveIt 9.0 with other clients, including Hivebotics, which develops autonomous mobile restroom cleaning robots, and CleanBotix, a company specializing in food processing plant sanitation.

"These three companies are primarily focused on solving business problems. The technology is a secondary consideration," Grant observed. "They want to address the business challenge reliably and effectively."

"Hivebotics initially started with a custom-built stack and also experimented with open-source technologies," he added. "They concluded that pursuing that route would be too time-consuming and costly, causing them to miss their market window. That's the key insight from our customers: speed of implementation and speed to production are their critical metrics."

Now, Singapore-based Hivebotics uses MoveIt Pro to manage adaptive surface coverage across diverse restroom layouts.

"Restroom environments are highly variable, with differences in fixtures, partitions, and layouts between facilities," said Rishab Patwari, CEO of Hivebotics. "MoveIt Pro allows us to convert perception data into reliable, surface-following motion without having to rebuild workflows for each new site."

Meanwhile, Grand Rapids, Mich.-based CleanBotix employs MoveIt to tackle the challenges of cleaning complex industrial equipment under strict safety protocols.

"Sanitation in food plants requires precision, repeatability, and adaptability," explained Adam Jacques, founder and president of CleanBotix. "The enhanced scan-and-plan and motion safety features in MoveIt Pro 9.0 help us automate tasks that traditionally needed manual intervention."