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OpenKAI

  • Software
  • Drones and boats
  • Framework

A C++ framework for prototyping and controlling unmanned vehicles and robots, built on a multi-threaded modular architecture that runs on embedded boards and scales to larger machines.

Source on GitHub: github.com/yankailab/OpenKAI (opens in a new tab). Facts read at commit a17e9ae (opens in a new tab).

Licenses

Code
AGPL-3.0-only (opens in a new tab)

Read by Robotheca from LICENSE (opens in a new tab) (AGPL-3.0-only) at commit a17e9ae (opens in a new tab), on 22 Oct 2026.

Commercial use
Yes

Copyleft: Modified source must be published, also when it runs as a service.

What it does

  • Provides a unified multi-threaded modular architecture written purely in C++ for building robot and vehicle control software.
  • Runs on light embedded hardware and can scale up to high-performance platforms.
  • Supports UART, USB, CAN, RS-485 and Ethernet interfaces.
  • Speaks protocols including MAVLink 2, Modbus, TCP/UDP, WebSocket and JSON.
  • Works with MAVLink flight controllers and Oriental Motor and ZLAC 8015 motor controllers over Modbus/RS-485.
  • Interfaces with sensors such as Intel RealSense, Livox, LeddarVu, TOFsense and Raspberry Pi camera modules, exposed as abstract objects.

Written by Robotheca from the project's README (opens in a new tab) at commit a17e9ae.

Getting started

Difficulty
Advanced
Hardware it needs, as the project states it
Tested on x86 PCs running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or later (24.04 recommended), NVIDIA Jetson series with JetPack/Ubuntu, and Raspberry Pi with Raspberry Pi OS. Mandatory dependencies are Pthread, Google glog and Eigen 5.x; OpenCV, Open3D and OpenCL are optional.

Maintenance

Status
Active: a commit in the last 90 days
Newest commit
22 Oct 2026 on master
Latest release
None published on GitHub

Checked on GitHub on 22 Oct 2026.

Links

Robots that can run it

No robot on Robotheca is linked to it yet. Links come from a robot's robot.yaml, from its dependency files read as text, or from Robotheca's editors.

Robotheca lists software as a reference: nothing is hosted or run here, and every fact links to where it was read.