Registry | Modular smart machine creation

We can’t foresee every piece of hardware you might want to add to your smart machine. Nor can we predict which services you may want to give them - which may include anything from SLAM and computer vision to move them around to Linux tools and basic software to make them function.

So we created the Viam Modular Registry so that you can easily find, use, and add any capabilities your machines might require.

Modular smart machine creation & customization

Viam’s modular platform makes it simple to find and use custom drivers for hardware and services, as well as create them to share with the wider developer community — or keep them private if you prefer. This ability to incorporate any kind of hardware, algorithms, or tools you need into your machine without a custom solution saves the effort and time needed to get your machine’s features just right.

READ THE DOCUMENTATION SEE THE REGISTRY →

An illustration of the Viam modular registry in browser and another browser window showing the view of an individual module

Viam’s Modular Registry is an open source marketplace with modules for any hardware component or service you want to add to your smart machine.

Use publicly available modules or write a module in any language for the capabilities you want your smart machine to have.

Deploy modules to any machine running Viam with a few clicks in the Viam app and leverage standardized APIs.

BENEFITS

Build or enhance the machine you want without integration headaches

Add any hardware component or service to your robot without tons of manual or custom work

Viam’s modular system allows you to integrate customized resources into any smart machine running on Viam by implementing a simple interface.

Write a plugin for any bespoke component or service with Viam’s Modular Registry

Viam’s cloud module registry allows developers to write a plugin for any component, publish it in Viam’s cloud, and deploy it to support any hardware as well as custom services like ML, SLAM, motion planning, and computer vision.

Save resources by utilizing a component or service another developer made

There are a range of publicly available modules for particular components created by other smart machine developers as part of Viam's Modular Registry.

FEATURES

Making smart machines more composable and versatile

Built-in resources supporting most common hardware or services

Viam comes with out-of-the-box resources and drivers for creating smart machines using the most common types of hardware and services.

Resource discovery and creation

Bring the power of open source to hardware. If a component or service is not part of Viam’s built-in drivers, you can easily add custom capabilities to your smart machine using a module from the Modular Registry or use a Viam SDK to supply what you need.

Public or private module sharing

Users can share the modules they create in Viam’s Modular Registry to bolster the open-source community of developers, or keep them private as modules only shared within an organization.

Automatic module updates

Automate the upload of new versions of your module on release as part of a continuous integration workflow using GitHub actions, or update manually using the Viam command-line interface.

Rapid configuration and testing

Once you have configured a modular resource, you can test it from within Viam and swap out other resources on the fly as needed. It’s as simple as changing a few lines of configuration and testing it from the Viam app’s Control tab.

Resource monetization

Viam’s Modular Registry gives you the tools to share the customized resources you create, and you will even be able to turn them into revenue streams when other developers use them in the near future.

Use cases

Add new features to machines

Code deployment

Machine testing and iteration

Extending machine lifespan

Machine learning

ROS module deployment

The power of a
unified platform

Viam Registry is part of a holistic platform that removes the need for complex integrations of various point solutions. Using the comprehensive platform's standardized APIs, you can compose smart machines by mixing and matching from available components and services on the Modular Registry without writing code.

Viam Build

Add new capabilities, components and services to your smart machines for simple testing and iteration.

Viam Mobility

Add any SLAM, navigation, or mapping algorithm to help your smart machine get where it needs to go.

Viam Machine Learning

Add any machine learning algorithm from any developer to your machine using the Modular Registry.

Further resources

Documentation - Extending Viam with modules

Don’t waste valuable resources on data that won’t enhance your machine’s performance - capture only the data you need and apply it to your ML model.

Read the documentation →

An illustration of the Viam modular registry in a browser window

Blog Post - Bringing the power of open source to hardware

Learn more about how Viam is partnering with leading hardware manufacturers like Nvidia to evangelize the power of ML on smart machines.

Read the blog post →

The Modular Registry - Take a peek inside

See what modules are currently available for deployment to any smart machine, or create your own!