Eugene, Oregon · Community Initiative

Own
Robots
Together.

What if your neighborhood shared robots
the way you share a library?

ShareBots is a community-funded, nonprofit robot commons — starting in Eugene. We're pooling resources to co-purchase and collectively govern robots for everyone to use. Not a subscription. Not a corporate service. Ours.

Join the founding community Learn more
A wooden community robot with stickers and tie-dye bandana watering a community garden at golden hour, geodesic dome greenhouse in background
Community Robot #001
Name TBD — you decide
Community owned Eugene, OR ?
?
🦾Can We
Help?🤔
What is ShareBots

Like a library.
But for robots.

Libraries proved something powerful — that shared ownership of tools beats individual ownership for things people need occasionally but not constantly. Books, tools, knowledge, space. The library economy works.

ShareBots applies that same logic to humanoid robots. Instead of a corporate service charging subscription fees and extracting value from your neighborhood, the community pools resources to co-purchase, govern, and benefit from robots together.

When the robot helps your neighbor carry tools, delivers something across the block, or assists at a community event — the value stays in the community. Because the robot belongs to the community.

This is a working title and early-stage initiative. We're building the founding community now — and you get to help shape what this becomes, including naming the project and the robots themselves.

✗
Corporate robot service Monthly subscription fees. Company owns the robot, extracts value from your neighborhood, controls the terms. You're the customer.
✓
ShareBots commons Community funds, owns, and governs the robot together. Value stays local. You're a stakeholder with genuine voice.
✗
Individual ownership Expensive. Inaccessible to most people. Duplicated cost across a whole neighborhood for occasional use.
✓
Shared commons access Affordable collective purchase. Available to everyone. Like a tool library — use it when you need it.
How it works

Four steps to a
community robot.

01
Build the community

Join the founding group. Sign up, share your ideas, tell us what you'd want a community robot to do. Your input shapes everything.

02
Pool resources

Community members contribute what they can to a shared fund — held transparently through our nonprofit structure. Every dollar is visible and accountable.

03
Co-purchase together

Once funded, the community collectively purchases the robot. Governed by community-written protocols. Named and designed by you. Owned by all of us.

04
Share and grow

The robot serves the neighborhood. Success funds more robots, more nodes, more neighborhoods. The network grows from demonstrated community ownership.

Why it matters

The automation transition
is already here.

Robots are entering our modern era. The question isn't whether they'll be part of our communities — it's who owns them and who benefits. Corporate deployment means extractive shareholders capture the gains. Community ownership means the neighborhood does.

Community ownership

The robots belong to the community that funds and governs them. No corporation extracts value from your neighborhood. Productivity gains stay local.

Democratic governance

Community members vote on how the robot is used, where it goes, and what it prioritizes. Transparent, accountable, and genuinely yours to shape.

Open source future

We prioritize open source hardware and software. Community-owned robots should run on community-owned code. No vendor lock-in, no proprietary black boxes.

Get involved

Be a founding
member.

Contribute to the robot fund →
Common questions

Things people
want to know.

Is this really happening or just an idea?

It's a real initiative in early founding stage — which means your involvement now shapes what it becomes. We're building the community and raising the fund before purchasing hardware. Join us and be part of building it.

How much does it cost to participate?

Joining the mailing list is free. Contributions to the robot fund are welcome at any level — there's no minimum. This is a community effort and every amount helps. Access to the robots once funded will be on commons terms, not ability to pay.

What will the robot actually do?

That's partly for the community to decide, including which models and designs are purchased or built. Early use cases include tool library delivery, community event assistance, fabrication help, and general neighborhood tasks. You'll have genuine input into what gets prioritized.

Is this safe?

Safety is our primary design constraint. Our first phase will focus on learning and testing. We can expand to fully autonomous access as trust and safety record builds. Fully and appropriately insured. Community-written protocols govern all operations.

What about jobs and automation? And... humanity?

It's a real concern we take seriously. Our position: community-owned robots offering services for the community is fundamentally different from corporate robots benefiting shareholders. Can robots play helpful roles as freely accessible tools in a postcapitalist world? Our hypothesis is: possibly! People should always be free to do anything they'd like, even if robots might also be available to help... able to aid in strenuous or repetitive tasks, and provide help for people with disabilities. Robots can also act as upgradable teachers and assistants for a variety of hands-on learning roles.

Why Eugene?

Eugene has strong cooperative culture, existing commons infrastructure, and the University of Oregon community nearby. It's a great place to pilot something new. We can explore: Can lush nature and versatile technology coexist? If it works here, the model spreads — and you'll have helped build the template.