Bill Smart is an associate professor at Oregon State University, where he codirects the Robotics program. His research interests span the areas of mobile robotics, machine learning, human–robot interaction, and the interaction between robotics and the law. Bill has been writing software for robots for over two decades, and doing active research and development of robot software architectures for over 15 years. At Oregon State University, he codirects the Robotics program and teaches classes in robotics and computer programming at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has been a ROS user since the beginning and was involved in some of the early planning workshops for the system. In 2010–11, he spent a 15-month sabbatical at Willow Garage, developing software for PR2 robots and enjoying the weather in California.