Career
Executive Director, Stanford Robotics Center
Executive Director, Stanford Robotics Center
Member Board of Directors
The non-profit Open Source Robotics Foundation supports and enhances the Robot Operating System (ROS) and other robotics software, such as the Gazebo simulator.
Chief Technology Officer
Chief Technology Officer
CEO
Savioke is creating autonomous robotic technology to help people in the services industry.
Member Board of Directors
Member Board of Directors
Member Board of Directors
Served from creation of the company through its acquisition.
CEO
During my tenure, Willow Garage created the PR2 robot, the open source TurtleBot, and the robot operating system (ROS), and spun off 8 companies:
Suitable Technologies (maker of the Beam remote presence system)
Industrial Perception, Inc.
Redwood Robotics
HiDOF (ROS and robotics consulting)
Unbounded Robotics (still in stealth mode)
The Open Source Robotics Foundation
The OpenCV Foundation
The Open Perception Foundation
Senior Manager
Led one of the top Human-Computer Interaction Research groups in the world at the Almaden Research Center. Developed connections to product groups within IBM, and was the liaison to the Consumer Products Industry team in IBM for all of IBM Research.
Lab Manager
Managed the Advanced Systems Development laboratory, which was responsible for bringing research from PARC closer to commercialization. As a member of PARC's senior staff during its transition out of Xerox, I worked on strategies for sustaining PARC as an independent company. Lab Manager 1999 - 2003 · 4 yrs
Member of Research Staff
Explored web services and led an effort to improve the document information infrastructure. Results were published and transferred to a Xerox product division. Member of Research Staff 1997 - 1999 · 2 yrs
Research Associate
Worked on clustering and a multi-media browser (early DVR prototype) part time during my PhD program.
Researcher
Did research and published papers about hypertext in medicine and information systems to support diabetes management.
Education
PhD
PhD - Computer Science
Skills
Core technical, research, and professional competencies in robotics and AI.
Technical & Research
Robotics
Artificial Intelligence
Machine Learning
Computer Vision
Human Computer Interaction
Computer Science
Algorithms
Software Engineering
Leadership & Strategy
Executive Leadership
Strategic Planning
Venture Spin-offs
Research Management
Business Development
Product Vision
Open Source Strategy
Programming & Tools
Python
C++
Java
Linux
Software Development
Distributed Systems
Domains
Primary
Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Open Source Software (ROS), Academia
Secondary
Service Automation, Human-Computer Interaction, Enterprise Technology
Tags
Personality
Visionary, Entrepreneurial, Academic, Pioneer, Open-Source Advocate
Focus
Robotics Commercialization, Research to Product, Future of Automation
Frequently Asked Questions
A factual summary of Steve Cousins' career highlights, focusing on his executive roles and contributions to the robotics industry.
Yes, he founded Savioke in 2013, which was later rebranded as Relay Robotics, developing the autonomous delivery robot, Relay.
As CEO of Willow Garage, he oversaw the creation of the open-source Robot Operating System (ROS) and the PR2 research robot.
During his tenure as CEO, Willow Garage successfully spun off eight separate robotics companies into the industry.
Yes, he has been involved with the Open Source Robotics Foundation since July 2012, according to his career timeline.