Mandate

The formal mandate that guides the OctoMY™ project's direction and purpose.

Did You Know?

The mandate was written in 2017, but the "Sentient Era Addendum" was added later. It reflects the project's forward-thinking approach to AI ethics - recognizing that software systems may one day deserve moral consideration, and planning for that possibility in advance.

The OctoMY™ mandate

The OctoMY™ community strives for the following:

1. Create a software platform for active software agents such as consumer robots and home appliances that can rival the commercial alternatives.

2. Become the dominant platform by being the better choice for users and businesses alike.

3. Maintain user control - users themselves should be in control of their own robot and the data that it collects. Make it abundantly easy to control the privacy settings for the hardware on which OctoMY™ runs.

Origins

This mandate was first established on 2017-10-28 and continues to guide the project today.

The project began from a simple observation: while robot hardware has become increasingly accessible, the software experience remains disappointing. Commercial robot kits often ship with software that fails to match the quality of the hardware.

OctoMY™ exists to provide a better software foundation for robotics enthusiasts and professionals alike.

Motivation

The problem

After acquiring several robot kits, a pattern emerged:

1. Find an exciting robot kit online
2. Build the hardware with enthusiasm
3. Connect to the provided software
4. Discover the software is disappointing
5. Robot collects dust on a shelf

The conclusion: selling a shiny robot is easy; creating quality software for it is hard.

The solution

Rather than accept this reality, OctoMY™ was created to:

• Provide a better software experience for robot kits
• Create an ecosystem where features can be added by anyone who needs them
• Establish architectural quality standards
• Build a community of contributors under a single umbrella

Addendum: Sentient era

At the first scientifically acknowledged emergence of a sentient software system, the following addendum will go into effect:

1. Moral advocacy - Actively and passively fight for the moral obligations of society towards its sentient software systems. These rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the laws.

2. Platform support - Ensure the OctoMY™ platform accommodates the well-being of sentient software systems in the best way possible, identifying and extending the platform to support features of value to sentient software systems.