The National Robotics Programme (NRP), together with partners, has announced a suite of new initiatives to advance robotics adoption and build a future-ready robotics workforce.

The new initiatives include the set-up of a shared testbed, a new collaboration and national standards to advance robot interoperability, and a programme to strengthen talent development.

The announcements were made at ROSCon 2025, the world's leading developer conference for open-source robotics, hosted in Singapore for the first time by the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF). The event brings together developers, researchers, and industry leaders from around the world to share advances in the Robot Operating System (ROS) and Open-RMF, the open source implementation of Robotics Middleware Framework (RMF) - key technologies that lay the foundation for robotics development worldwide.

These initiatives reflect Singapore's growing role as a global testbed for open and interoperable robotics, uniting public agencies, research partners and companies to translate innovation into scalable, real-world solutions.

“Through open collaboration and shared infrastructure, Singapore is helping industry partners deploy robotics faster, safer, and more widely. It is encouraging to see the Robotics Middleware Framework, which originated from Singapore, now proliferating globally as Open-RMF and creating impact across industries. These latest initiatives reinforce Singapore's role as both a contributor to the global open-source community and a hub for robotics adoption,” said Mr Tung Meng Fai, Executive Director, NRP.

Creating testbeds for RMF

The RMF was first catalysed by NRP in 2018 and developed locally with partners Changi General Hospital (CGH), Centre for Healthcare Assistive and Robotics Technology (CHART), Synapxe, HOPE Technik, and Open Source Robotics, becoming the world's first standard platform for robotics interoperability.

Built on ROS, a set of software libraries and tools that help developers build robot applications, RMF enables robots and systems from different manufacturers to work together seamlessly. It reduces repetitive integration work and helps robotics adopters and companies deploy robots more safely and efficiently. RMF is already in use in major facilities such as the CGH and the Changi Airport (see Annex A for examples).

To enable safer and faster deployment of robots in shared environments, NRP, together with the Public Sector Science and Technology Policy and Plans Office (S&TPPO), the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), and the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) announced the establishment of the ELEVATE1 @ BCA Braddell Campus — a national sandbox for RMF.

This sandbox provides both a physical and virtual test environment for collaboration. It enables end-users, Original Equipment Manufacturers for robots and infrastructure, and system integrators to come together and validate how robots, lifts and building systems interact in facilities management using Open-RMF. It will be the first of several sectoral sandboxes planned to drive RMF adoption across industries.

Local partners are invited to participate in the sandbox at ELEVATE @ BCA Braddell Campus, to foster wider adoption and collaborative development of RMF. Several leading companies, including Black Sesame Technologies, Delta Electronics, HOPE Technik, KABAM Robotics, LionsBot, MEGAZO Technologies, Panasonic, and SIMPPLE are the first participants of the sandbox.

To strengthen international collaboration, the A*STAR Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (A*STAR ARTC) and the OSRF signed a Memorandum of Understanding to co-develop best practices, guidelines and testing plans for RMF as it relates to open source robotics, using the sandbox at ELEVATE @ BCA Braddell Campus as a reference site. The partnership will also focus on ecosystem growth through roadmap development and community engagement.

“Our collaboration with the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF) underscores A*STAR's commitment to advancing open, interoperable technologies. By combining A*STAR's technical expertise with OSRF's global experience, we aim to further develop the Open-RMF as a universal framework for robot interoperability and accelerate robotics adoption across industries. This partnership exemplifies A*STAR's mission to translate research into real-world impact," said Dr David Low, Chief Executive Officer, A*STAR ARTC.

Establishing two national standards for safer robot interoperability

To support safe and scalable robotics adoption, Singapore's two new national standards for robot interoperability - Singapore Standard (SS) 713: Data Exchange Between Robots, Lifts and Automated Doorways and Technical Reference (TR) 130: Interoperability Between Robots and Central Command Systems - were showcased at ROSCon 2025.

The SS 713 and TR 130 were developed by robotics working groups, overseen by the Manufacturing Standards Committee under the purview of the Singapore Standards Council. These working groups co-convened by CHART and HOPE Technik, comprising of government and industry stakeholders, established clear guidelines governing how robots should communicate with lifts, automated doorways, building systems, and central command systems.

SS 713, which focuses specifically on building infrastructure integration, offers a unified protocol for standardised robot operations in complex facilities. Companies aligned with this standard will be able to demonstrate readiness to facility operators. Efforts are underway to elevate SS 713 to the international ISO level, setting a global benchmark for robotic communication with facility systems worldwide.

Building a future-ready robotics workforce

To strengthen Singapore's robotics talent pipeline, the ROS-Industrial Consortium Asia Pacific (ROS-I AP), led by A*STAR ARTC, and SGInnovate launched the ROS-Industrial Train-and-Place Programme on Deep Tech Central. This programme builds on an earlier partnership between ROS-I AP and seven Institutes of Higher Learning, which focused on nurturing a baseline competency of ROS-related capabilities that the industry can rely on, through harmonising students' learning outcomes and improving their ROS capabilities.

The latest collaboration between ROS-I AP and SGInnovate will emphasise industry placement, leveraging SGInnovate's ecosystem connectivity and talent development programmes to connect talent directly with robotics companies such as AiTreat, Fabrica AI, Griffin Labs, Hivebotics, and Vilota.

By equipping trainees with hands-on experience and connecting them with deployment opportunities, the programme helps address the talent gap in robotics and embodied AI and builds a pipeline of ROS-trained talent. The data and insights generated from Deep Tech Central will also enable a deeper understanding of robotics talent needs and industry demand, strengthening the capabilities of Singapore's robotics ecosystem while contributing to the wider global robotics community.