Ownership & Transfers

Track ownership changes and maintain accurate robot provenance.

Owner Types

Type Description Examples
individual Personal ownership Hobbyists, researchers
company Commercial entity Manufacturers, businesses
research Academic institution Universities, labs
community Open source project ROS community, foundations

Current Owner

Set the current owner in your robot's YAML:

owner:
  name: "RoboTech Labs"
  type: "research"
  website: "https://robotech-labs.edu"

Ownership History

Track all previous owners with the ownership_history field:

ownership_history:
  - owner_name: "Original Manufacturer"
    owner_type: "company"
    owner_website: "https://manufacturer.com"
    acquired_date: "2020-01-15"
    transferred_date: "2022-06-01"
    transfer_reason: "Sold to research lab"
    verified: true

  - owner_name: "University Research Lab"
    owner_type: "research"
    owner_website: "https://university.edu/robotics"
    acquired_date: "2022-06-01"
    transferred_date: "2024-01-10"
    transfer_reason: "Donated to open source"
    verified: true

  - owner_name: "Open Source Community"
    owner_type: "community"
    acquired_date: "2024-01-10"
    verified: false

History Fields

Field Required Description
owner_name Yes Name of the owner
owner_type Yes Type: individual, company, research, community
owner_website No Owner's website URL
acquired_date Yes Date ownership began (YYYY-MM-DD)
transferred_date No Date ownership ended (YYYY-MM-DD)
transfer_reason No Reason for the transfer
verified Yes Whether the transfer was verified

Verification

Ownership transfers can be verified by:

  • Email confirmation from both parties
  • GitHub identity verification
  • Official documentation
  • Maintainer review

Verified transfers are displayed with a checkmark in the timeline.

Requesting a Transfer

To transfer ownership:

  1. Submit a GitHub issue with:
    • Robot RRN
    • Current owner verification
    • New owner information
    • Reason for transfer
  2. Both parties confirm the transfer
  3. Maintainers update the registry