Proposal: URML (substrate-neutral robot intent) cross-citation for Fetch + Freight — license + post-acquisition-governance asks

[idoco2003]

Hi @fetchrobotics maintainers (and Zebra Technologies, if reachable),

Proposing a URML v0.1 capability-manifest cross-citation for Fetch + Freight over fetchrobotics/fetch_ros. URML (Universal Robot Language, Apache-2.0) is an open spec for substrate-neutral robot intent.

Fetch / Freight are the mobile-manipulator + mobile-base lineage with substantial research-lab deployment in academic robotics. URML's manifest declares the mobile-manipulator topology — mobile base + arm + head as a single integrated platform — exercising the cross-block boundary URML's existing fixtures don't fully test.

Two open questions frame this RFC as cross-citation rather than full manifest mapping:

• License clarification: no SPDX visible upstream blocks Apache-2.0 downstream bundling.
• Post-acquisition governance: Fetch was acquired by Zebra Technologies in 2023; the GitHub presence has been stale 646 days since. Is the surface still community-supported, or has engagement migrated elsewhere?

This is proposal-only, posted as part of URML's Move #14 outreach (7 engageable RFCs in this wave).

Full RFC: https://github.com/URML-MARS/URML/blob/main/docs/rfcs/0188-fetchrobotics-fetch-ros-outreach.md

Questions worth maintainer input on:

1. License clarification. Can fetchrobotics/fetch_ros get an explicit OSI license declaration?
2. Post-acquisition governance. Is the Fetch GitHub org actively maintained under Zebra, dormant-but-monitored, or has engagement moved to a successor surface entirely?
3. Mobile-manipulator topology manifest fields. Same shared question as URML's Hello Robot Stretch RFC.
4. Acquisition-era governance manifest declaration. Should URML's manifest declare acquisition-era platforms for downstream operator awareness? This is the first concrete case URML's outreach has encountered.
5. Bridge home. Cross-citation only (recommended pending license + governance), URML repo (reference/mobile-manipulator-runtime/FetchAdapter), or none?
6. Conformance listing. If the platform is still community-supported, would the maintainers consider a README link to URML's compatible-runtimes registry?
7. Anything else.

Ido Yahalomi (URML maintainer, urml.dev, greenvh@gmail.com)

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AI-assisted prose, maintainer-reviewed before posting (see VIBE.md). Human-only correspondence available on request.