The open source Robot Operating System (ROS) from Willow Garage is finally adopted by a major industrial robot manufacturer. This is a small but significant step to free the world from proprietary robot controllers that inhibit robot adoption by a wider range of companies. See my complete post on the topic in IEEE Automaton.
There are basic ROS nodes available for the Robotiq Adaptive Gripper developped by Willow Garage and Stanford. In their ROS integration with Motoman robots, SwRI will also be controlling the gripper through ROS. Feel free to contact us on how you can use the Adaptive Gripper on ROS.
The SIA 7-axis redundant industrial manipulator used in the ROS integration by SwRI.