Viam is the fastest way to build a robot. By treating the hardware as software, the team turned a six-month middleware problem into a two-week build.
Two
X-ARM robots were integrated with HTC Vive VR controllers using the open-source
vive module on Viam, declared in config and controlled through consistent APIs rather than hand-built middleware. The module’s teleoperation service handles 6DOF tracking, proportional gripper control via trigger input, and clean handoff between manual and autonomous modes via a master enable gate.
Every teleoperation session also automatically generates labeled training data, meaning the system gives operators realtime arm control while simultaneously building a dataset for fully autonomous operation.
With Viam, one engineer did what would normally take a dedicated team: reused a ready-made, open-source integration, built the system, and validated it quickly.
Future iterations could add Viam's vision service so the arms detect and localize objects on their own, turning teleoperation into full autonomy. In addition, scaling beyond one cell is a config change, not a rebuild. The code and configuration that make one station work can quickly become reusable across a dozen or hundreds of machines, with Viam’s built-in remote management, OTA updates, and monitoring capabilities.If you want to run a UFACTORY xArm on Viam, start with the
xArm module.
