The Stack Overflow Podcast Abstraction, but for robots
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Dec 2, 2025 Simone Kalamakis, VP of Engineering at Viam, dives into the world of robotics, sharing her journey from tech at Microsoft to leading innovative projects. She highlights Viam's software abstraction platform, making robotics accessible with modular tools. From lobster traps to industrial sanding robots, Simone discusses diverse applications, the integration of AI, and the challenges of hardware iteration. She also emphasizes the significance of observability and security in robotic systems, showcasing how technology transforms real-world tasks.
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Software Abstraction For Robotics
- Viam provides an abstraction layer that turns robot parts and services into composable software modules.
- That modularity lets engineers assemble, swap, and iterate on robotic systems like building blocks.
Use Modules, Not Rewritten Boilerplate
- Write or reuse modules and upload them to Viam's registry to accelerate development.
- Configure or add custom logic as modules instead of rewriting common boilerplate.
Interface-First Hardware Swaps
- Viam defines protos/APIs for device classes so software talks to interfaces, not models.
- That lets teams swap hardware (e.g., cameras) with minimal code changes and faster testing.