Viam
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What is Viam?
Viam is a software platform for building, deploying, and managing robotics applications. It enables software engineers to write control logic using multi-language SDKs (Python, Go, TypeScript, C++, Flutter) with well-defined APIs for hardware and services. The platform treats hardware as a single machine in the cloud, allowing developers to develop application code from anywhere and scale from the first prototype to a global fleet without rewriting code.
Key features include built-in motion planning and vision services, cloud-based fleet management with remote monitoring and OTA updates, AI & data capabilities for training and deploying ML models, and a Viam Registry with pre-built drivers and modules for popular hardware. The platform supports hardware abstraction through standardized APIs, allowing you to swap hardware without code changes. Security features include built-in security and fleet-wide access control without requiring a VPN.
Viam is designed for software engineers building robotics applications, robotics startups managing global fleets, manufacturers automating surface finishing and fiberglass sanding operations, and hardware manufacturers/OEMs building smart connected products. It serves industries including marine, technology, industrial, manufacturing, robotics & automation, sports & entertainment, and quick service restaurants. The platform is particularly useful for teams who want to spend time on what their robot actually does rather than managing drivers, networking, or integration.
The platform brings software engineering practices to robotics including version control, remote monitoring and diagnostics, staged rollouts, and a registry of modules and models. Users can get hardware running in minutes by adding cameras, motors, arms, or sensors to configuration with a few parameters. The cloud-managed fleet monitoring includes alerting, canary testing and rollbacks for safe versioning, and the ability to see a 3D view of machines from the browser.
Viam pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
Viam offers two pricing models. The Developer Platform is free to start with no credit card required, then usage-based pricing applies after the first $5/month of cloud services. Standard tabular/JSON data management costs $0.25 per GB/month. Hot data store storage is $2.5 per GB. Hot data store compute is $0.00125 per second. Image, video, logs, and non-tabular data storage is $0.05 per GB/month. Cloud data upload is $0.15 per GB. Cloud data egress is $0.25 per GB. Standard compute is $0.0025 per second. Trigger notifications are $2.50 per 1M notifications. For bulk storage exceeding 100 GB/month, pricing can adapt to volume (contact sales for custom pricing). The Robotic Surface Finishing solution (hardware + software + support) has annual subscription starting at $120,000 for standard two-arm cell, with pricing varying based on part size, production volume, and facility configuration.
Viam pros
- Multi-language SDKs (Python, Go, TypeScript, C++, Flutter)
- Hardware abstracted into simple, standardized APIs
- Viam Registry with instant driver and ML model access
- Built-in motion planning and vision services
- Remote access and control without VPN required
- Built-in security and fleet-wide access control
- Cloud-managed fleet monitoring and alerting
- OTA updates for software and ML models
- Canary testing and rollbacks for safe versioning
- Scale from prototype to global fleet without rewrites
- Get hardware running in minutes with JSON config
- Capture data from edge to cloud with local queuing
- Train and deploy computer vision and ML models
- Develop code remotely on laptop against hardware
- Supports Raspberry Pi, Jetson, ESP32, macOS, Windows, Linux
- Fleet-wide configuration with reusable fragments
- 3D machine view visible from browser
- Pre-built modules for popular hardware
- No driver writing or dependency management needed
- Open-source viam-server binary
Viam cons
- Usage-based pricing after first $5/month free tier
- Cloud data upload costs $0.15 per GB
- Cloud data egress costs $0.25 per GB
- Standard tabular data management $0.25 per GB/month
- Hot data storage $2.5 per GB
- Image/video/logs storage $0.05 per GB/month
- Robotic Surface Finishing solution starts at $120,000/year
- Requires cloud connection for full fleet management capabilities
Frequently asked questions about Viam
What is Viam?
Viam is a software platform for building, deploying, and managing robotics applications. With Viam, you declare the hardware and services you need in a JSON config, and Viam installs the drivers and any additional software modules required. Vision, motion planning, and most other capabilities are built in or available in the Viam module Registry with well-defined APIs.
What programming languages does Viam support?
Viam supports multi-language SDKs including Python, Go, TypeScript, C++, and Flutter. You can write control logic in your language of choice with well-defined APIs for hardware and services.
What hardware does Viam support?
Viam supports any type of hardware with standardized APIs. Common components include Arm, Base, Board, Button, Camera, Motor, Sensor, Servo, and Switch. The viam-server runs on Linux 64-bit (AArch64/ARM64 or x86-64), Linux 32-bit (Armv7l), macOS, Windows, and 32-bit microcontrollers like ESP32. Supported devices include Raspberry Pi 5/4/3/Zero 2 W, NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano/Nano/AGX Orin/Xavier NX, Intel UP4000, and more.
How does Viam fleet management work?
Viam's cloud-managed fleet monitoring allows you to remotely deploy and manage software on any fleet of devices. You can configure, control, and manage devices from anywhere through the cloud. Features include remote monitoring, access control, OTA updates, canary testing and rollbacks for safe versioning, fleet-wide configuration updates from a single change, and alerting on problems.
Can I train and deploy ML models with Viam?
Yes. Viam's data and AI capabilities enable you to capture and sync or upload data, build a dataset, train and deploy ML models, and run inference with computer vision. You can train machine learning models on captured data, or bring models from TensorFlow, PyTorch, or ONNX. Deploy them to your fleet and run inference on the device. Pretrained models for common tasks are also available in the Registry.
What is the Viam Registry?
The Viam Registry is a central repository of modules, ML models, and training scripts maintained by Viam and the robotics community. Registry modules provide drivers for cameras, motors, sensors, arms, and other hardware, plus services like object detection. All registry assets support semantic versioning, enabling controlled deployment to individual robots and across your fleet.
Do I need a VPN to access my robots with Viam?
No. Viam provides remote access and control without a VPN. You can connect to a machine over the network with no VPN or port forwarding, stream logs, view live camera and sensor data, teleoperate, and see a 3D view of the machine, all from the browser.
What is included in the free tier?
The Developer Platform is free to start with no credit card required. You get access to the software platform and APIs. After the first $5/month of cloud services, usage-based pricing applies. The free tier allows you to create your free account and get your first machine online in minutes.
What industries does Viam serve?
Viam serves marine, technology, industrial, manufacturing, robotics & automation, sports & entertainment, and quick service restaurants. Featured clients include Viking Yachts (fiberglass sanding), SurfaceAI (robotic surface finishing), Tennibot (robotic business), Canyon Runner (fleet visibility), Sbarro (AI-powered inventory tracking), and UBS Arena (venue systems).
How does Viam handle data management?
Viam captures data from edge to cloud. You can configure which components to record and how often. Data syncs when bandwidth allows, queues locally when a machine goes offline, and can be filtered at the edge to control cost. Data management includes collecting, storing, and querying sensor data and telemetry. Standard tabular/JSON data is $0.25 per GB/month, while image/video/logs storage is $0.05 per GB/month.