ROS News for the Week of March 23rd, 2026
The ROS ecosystem announces a packed 2026 calendar, a new terminal-based visualization tool, and major corporate backing.
The ROS (Robot Operating System) community is gearing up for a landmark year in 2026, with the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF) announcing a dense international calendar of events. The flagship ROSCon Global 2026 is set for Toronto in late September, with a call for sponsors and workshop proposals due by April 5th. This is complemented by regional ROSCons in France, Japan, Spain, and Belgium, alongside dozens of local meetups from Nigeria to Germany and summer schools in Stockholm and Prague. The schedule signals robust, global growth for the open-source robotics framework.
On the technical front, the community released TermViz 2, a ROS 2 port of a visualization utility that renders maps, laser scans, and point clouds directly in a terminal using half-block characters. In corporate news, RT Corporation has become the first Japanese company to join the Open Source Robotics Alliance (OSRA) as a Silver Member, indicating growing industrial investment. Critical deadlines are imminent, with proposals for Google Summer of Code internships due March 31st and the Intrinsic AI for Industry Challenge closing April 17th.
- ROSCon Global 2026 will be held in Toronto, with workshop proposals due April 5th and a full call for sponsors now open.
- TermViz 2 released as a ROS 2 port, enabling visualization of robot data (maps, point clouds) directly in a terminal.
- RT Corporation joins the Open Source Robotics Alliance as its first Japanese Silver Member, highlighting increased corporate backing.
Why It Matters
For robotics professionals, this surge in events and tools lowers barriers to entry and accelerates development for ROS 2-based systems.