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Robot Bus

Lightweight ROS 2–style messaging over ZeroMQ — topics, services & actions, no ROS install. SDKs for Rust, Python, TypeScript, C++, Java, and Android. Tool nodes, TF, and Studio UI live in robot-bus-tools.

No ROS distro, no source setup.bash, no workspace. One broker process plus an SDK in any supported language is enough.

Design principles: APIs stay close to ROS 2 naming and usage (Node, SingleThreadedExecutor / MultiThreadedExecutor, add_node, create_publisher / create_subscription, spin) to ease migration; the transport is ZeroMQ and is not tied to any ROS distribution.

Pre-release notice: This project is still in pre-release. APIs may change substantially and runtime stability is not production-ready yet — use caution in production.

More API examples live under docs/.

Crate API

Repository layout

Rust core stays at the repo root (Cargo.toml + src/). Language SDKs live under bindings/; do not flatten them to peer top-level folders.

Architecture

Application code (Rust / Python / TypeScript / C++ / Java / Android)
  └── robot-bus SDK
              │
              │ ZMQ (tcp / ipc / inproc) or gRPC / WebSocket RPC
              ▼
robot_bus_broker process

Optional ROS 2 bridge (Rust feature)

Everyday robot-bus development does not install ROS 2. To interconnect with a ROS 2 graph in-process, enable Cargo feature ros2 and use robot_bus::ros2::Ros2Bridge (chained API or YAML). Official support: Humble and Jazzy (source that distro + rclrs). C++: install robot-bus-ros2-humble or …-jazzy (does not vendor rcl). See the ROS 2 bridge section.

Quick start

1. Start the broker

Rust:

cargo run --bin robot_bus_broker
# API listen:           robot_bus_broker --api-listen 0.0.0.0:15770
# advertise host:       robot_bus_broker --advertise-host 10.0.0.5
# federation peer:      robot_bus_broker --peer 10.0.0.2:15770

Introspection CLI (rbus)

Query the broker console HTTP API (default http://127.0.0.1:15770; override with --url or ROBOT_BUS_BROKER_URL):

cargo run --bin rbus -- topic list
cargo run --bin rbus -- topic info /robot1/imu
cargo run --bin rbus -- service list
cargo run --bin rbus -- action list
cargo run --bin rbus -- status

topic list prints name and registered protobuf type (or -). Types appear after a typed create_publisher::<M> registers with the console (before any traffic). Topics with only raw traffic and no registration still list with type -. Services / actions appear after a worker READY.

Broker discovery (HTTP API)

Brokers expose GET /api/v1/discover on the API listen port (default 15770, shared with gRPC / WS / console). The JSON lists connectable message/service/action endpoints (OS-assigned ports after bind :0) plus brokerId / apiUrl.

Clients still choose the transport (tcp / ipc / inproc / grpc); discovery only fills host / paths / gRPC URL:

use robot_bus::{DiscoverOpts, Node, NodeOptions};

let opts = NodeOptions::tcp().discover(DiscoverOpts {
    api_url: "http://127.0.0.1:15770".into(),
    ..Default::default()
})?;
let mut node = Node::with_options("talker", opts);

Same API shape in bindings: Node.discover(...) (Python / C++ / Java / Android / TypeScript Node.js). Browser clients use the API URL / WebSocket directly.

Federation: pass --peer HOST:PORT (peer API listen) so the local broker fetches the peer's discover map and wires ZMQ peers.

Python (ships a CLI entry after pip install robot-bus):

robot-bus-broker

Or start in-process:

import robot_bus

with robot_bus.RobotBusBroker.start() as broker:
    # ... application code ...
    pass
# leaves the with-block and stops automatically

# Or block like the CLI (Ctrl+C to exit)
# robot_bus.run_broker()

Python

pip install robot-bus

Local development (requires maturin; just optional):

just python-dev
# equivalent: cd bindings/python && maturin develop --features extension-module,grpc

(grpc is a default feature; spelling it out avoids missing the gateway when default-features = false.)

import robot_bus
from robot_bus.sensor_msgs.msg.v1 import Imu
from robot_bus.geometry_msgs.msg.v1 import Vector3

def on_imu(topic, imu: Imu):
    print(topic, imu.linear_acceleration)

node = robot_bus.Node("pilot")

imu_pub = node.create_publisher("/robot1/imu", Imu)
node.create_subscription("/robot1/imu", on_imu, msg_type=Imu)
imu_pub.publish(Imu(linear_acceleration=Vector3(x=0.0, y=0.0, z=9.8)))
# node.spin()  # blocks; call node.shutdown() / shutdown_handle().shutdown() from another thread

(Omit the message type for raw bytes. Use SingleThreadedExecutor / MultiThreadedExecutor + add_node when sharing nodes or needing multi-threaded handlers.)

gRPC-only gateway clients: Node.grpc("name") / Node.grpc_at("name", "http://…") (subscribe / publish / call service / action). See docs/python-api.md.

TypeScript

npm install robot-bus

Local development:

just ts-dev
# equivalent: cd bindings/typescript && npm install && npm run build:native && npm run build:ts

One npm package: Node.js uses napi-rs (full ZMQ API); browsers use WebSocket RPC on /ws (subscribe / publish / service / action client). Bundlers pick the entry via exports. See docs/typescript-api.md.

import { Node } from "robot-bus";
import { Imu } from "robot-bus/sensor_msgs/msg/v1/imu.js";

const node = new Node("pilot");
const pub = node.createPublisher("/robot1/imu", Imu);
node.createSubscription("/robot1/imu", (_t, imu) => console.log(imu), Imu);

Browser / gRPC-only: Node.grpc("client") (the browser entry's Node is the WebSocket RPC facade).

Java / Android (Maven Central)

Package name is org.indunet.robot.bus for both. Android is a standalone Kotlin SDK (does not depend on the Java JAR). After you write release notes and Publish on GitHub, CI publishes to Maven Central (or run the Actions workflows manually).

just java-dev       # JVM
just android-dev    # AAR (needs Android SDK + NDK 26 + cargo-ndk)

// Android (Kotlin)
RobotBusAndroid.init(this)
val pub = node.createPublisher("/imu", Imu::class.java)

See docs/java-api.md / docs/android-api.md, bindings/java/README.md / bindings/android/README.md.

C++ (DEB / MSI)

No central package registry for C++: download from GitHub Releases (CI attaches assets after you Publish):

Install only one of the three (they conflict). See docs/cpp-api.md.

#include <robot_bus/Node.hpp>
#include <robot_bus/sensor_msgs/msg/v1/imu.pb.h>

robot_bus::Broker broker;
robot_bus::Node node("pilot");
auto pub = node.create_publisher("/imu");

Rust (Node + spin)

Add to Cargo.toml:

robot-bus = { path = "../robot-bus" }
# or from crates.io: robot-bus = "0.1.7"

Semantics mirror ROS 2: Node::new → typed create_publisher / create_subscription → node.spin() (auto-attaches a SingleThreadedExecutor).

gRPC-only (no ZMQ): Node::grpc / Node::grpc_at — subscribe, publish, and call service / action, but cannot act as a server; see docs/rust-api.md.

use std::sync::Arc;
use std::time::Duration;
use robot_bus::geometry_msgs::msg::v1::Vector3;
use robot_bus::sensor_msgs::msg::v1::Imu;
use robot_bus::Node;

let mut node = Node::new("pilot");

let imu_pub = node.create_publisher::<Imu>("/robot1/imu")?;
node.create_subscription::<Imu, _>(
    "/robot1/imu",
    |topic, imu| {
        println!("{topic}: {:?}", imu.linear_acceleration);
    },
    None,
)?;

let imu = Imu {
    linear_acceleration: Some(Vector3 { x: 0.0, y: 0.0, z: 9.8 }),
    ..Default::default()
};
imu_pub.publish(&imu)?;

node.create_timer(
    Duration::from_millis(100),
    Arc::new(|| {
        // control period / heartbeat
    }),
    None,
)?;

let handle = node.shutdown_handle()?;
std::thread::spawn(move || { /* ... */ handle.shutdown(); });
node.spin()?;

• Single-node default: node.spin() (internal SingleThreadedExecutor)
• SingleThreadedExecutor / MultiThreadedExecutor + add_node: shared multi-node or parallel handlers
• Callback groups: MutuallyExclusive / Reentrant (create_callback_group; default is mutually exclusive)
• Service / action: typed create_service / create_client, create_action_server / create_action_client (on the Node like topics; *_raw variants also available)
• Timer: create_timer (also on the Node, driven by spin)
• Raw bytes: create_publisher_raw / create_subscription_raw
• Low-level escape hatch: Executor (advanced)

Send / receive high-water marks (ZMQ HWM, not full QoS) can be set at create time or at runtime:

use robot_bus::{Publisher, HighWaterMark};

let pub_ = Publisher::with_hwm(None, HighWaterMark::new(10, 10))?;
pub_.set_high_water_mark(HighWaterMark { snd: 10, rcv: 10 })?;

Defaults: message STREAM(2/2), service RPC(4/4), action ACTION(8/8). Broker flags: --snd-hwm / --rcv-hwm.

Binaries

Web console (console/)

Optional broker monitoring UI: Overview, Topics, Services, Actions, Topology, and event logs. With the console feature (default), the broker serves an embedded static UI on 0.0.0.0:15770 after you build assets once.

Development (hot reload — preferred):

# terminal 1
cargo run --bin robot_bus_broker
# terminal 2
cd console && pnpm install && pnpm dev
# open http://localhost:3000  (/api is proxied to the broker; override with ROBOT_BUS_BROKER_URL)

Embedded in the broker binary:

just console          # pnpm build + sync → assets/console/ (gitignored)
cargo run --bin robot_bus_broker
# open http://localhost:15770
# disable: cargo run --bin robot_bus_broker -- --no-console

assets/console/ is build output (not committed). CI and release jobs run just console (or equivalent) before compiling with the console feature.

Wired to the broker on the same port as native gRPC / WebSocket RPC (0.0.0.0:15770): the Dashboard is a TypeScript GrpcNode that subscribes to /robot_bus/* system topics over /ws. A thin REST shim (GET /api/v1/...) remains for rbus / tooling. Topology and topic-type registration use reliable control-plane services (/robot_bus/topology/register, /robot_bus/topic_type/register) through the existing service bus. Domain visualizers, Flow, and LIVE / WHEP live in robot-bus-tools Studio. The frontend source lives in console/; only the generated static files are compiled into binaries with the console feature.

Bot demo (2 nodes): in-process src/bot_sim/ owns physics (SUB /robot_bus/bot/cmd_vel → PUB /robot_bus/bot/pose) and starts when the console opens a BOT SIM session; the BOT SIM panel (bot_viz) renders pose and dispatches capabilities (keyboard teleop first). Shared world — multiple viewers, last-writer-wins teleop.

gRPC + browser WebSocket gateway

Started with robot_bus_broker / RobotBusBroker::start. Native gRPC (HTTP/2) and browser WebSocket RPC (/ws, one connection per RPC) share the same port (default 0.0.0.0:15770). There is no gRPC-Web layer.

You can also attach via the Node API with Node::grpc / Node::grpc_at (client: subscribe / publish / call service / call action; see docs/rust-api.md).

Action clients use a ROS 2–style GoalHandle in every language: send_goal / sendGoal returns the handle immediately, feedback is delivered to a callback as it arrives, and the result is awaited separately. handle.cancel() is best-effort and does not imply server confirmation: WebSocket RPC sends an explicit CANCEL frame (connection stays open for RESULT; a true disconnect still cancels), native gRPC cancels the goal stream, and ZMQ sends an explicit CANCEL frame.

cargo run --bin robot_bus_broker
# config: cargo run --bin robot_bus_broker -- --help
# gRPC: http://0.0.0.0:15770

In-process:

use robot_bus::{GrpcBrokerConfig, RobotBusBroker, RobotBusConfig};

let broker = RobotBusBroker::start(RobotBusConfig {
    grpc: GrpcBrokerConfig {
        listen: "0.0.0.0:15770".parse()?,
        ..Default::default()
    },
    ..RobotBusConfig::default()
})?;
let grpc = format!("http://{}", broker.grpc_listen());

Proto (package robot_bus_interface.grpc.v1, distinct from ROS *.msg.v1 / *.srv.v1):

• message_gateway.proto
• service_gateway.proto
• action_gateway.proto

HTTP discovery (GET /api/v1/discover on the API listen port). Legacy protobuf schema:

• announce.proto (UDP multicast path removed)

Tool nodes, TF, and Studio

Hardware / multimedia nodes (rbus_*), the TF coordinate-frame library, and the domain visualizer / Flow / LIVE UI now live in the sibling repository robot-bus-tools.

# After cloning both repos as siblings:
cd ../robot-bus-tools
cargo build --bins
# Studio (visualizers + Flow + LIVE):
cd studio && pnpm install && pnpm dev   # http://127.0.0.1:15772

robot-bus keeps the broker, multi-language communication SDKs, ROS 2 bridge, protobuf contracts (tf2_msgs included), and the broker monitoring console (Overview / Topics / Topology / Logs).

ROS 2 bridge (feature = "ros2")

In-process topic, service, and action bridge via robot_bus::ros2::Ros2Bridge (chained API or YAML). Not enabled by default — core SDK, crates.io, and maturin builds stay ROS-free.

Supported ROS 2 distributions (official): Humble and Jazzy. Other distros: build from source after sourcing that distro (best-effort).

use robot_bus::ros2::{Direction, Ros2Bridge};

let mut bridge = Ros2Bridge::new("ros_bridge")
    .bus_tcp("localhost")
    .route("/chatter", "/chatter")
        .string()
        .direction(Direction::Both)
        .add()?
    .route("/camera/image_raw", "/camera/image_raw")
        .type_name("sensor_msgs/msg/Image")
        .direction(Direction::RosToBus)
        .add()?
    .service("/reset", "/reset")
        .trigger()
        .direction(Direction::RosToBus)
        .add()?
    .service("/enable", "/enable")
        .set_bool()
        .direction(Direction::BusToRos)
        .add()?
    .action("/fibonacci", "/fibonacci")
        .fibonacci()
        .direction(Direction::RosToBus)
        .add()?
    .build()?;
bridge.spin()?;
// or: Ros2Bridge::from_yaml("bridge.yaml")?.spin()?;
// Camera→H264 example YAML: src/ros2/example_camera_h264.yaml

foxglove_msgs/msg/CompressedVideo requires the foxglove_msgs ROS package on the system (DynamicMessage type support).

C++ (after installing the matching Linux robot-bus-ros2-* package and sourcing ROS):

#include <robot_bus/Ros2Bridge.hpp>

auto bridge = robot_bus::Ros2Bridge::New("ros_bridge")
    .bus_tcp("localhost")
    .route("/chatter", "/chatter")
    .string()
    .direction(robot_bus::Ros2Direction::Both)
    .add()
    .route("/camera/image_raw", "/camera/image_raw")
    .type_name("sensor_msgs/msg/Image")
    .direction(robot_bus::Ros2Direction::RosToBus)
    .add()
    .service("/reset", "/reset")
    .trigger()
    .direction(robot_bus::Ros2Direction::RosToBus)
    .add()
    .action("/fibonacci", "/fibonacci")
    .fibonacci()
    .direction(robot_bus::Ros2Direction::RosToBus)
    .add()
    .build();
bridge.spin();
// or: robot_bus::Ros2Bridge::from_yaml("bridge.yaml").spin();
// Camera→H264 example: src/ros2/example_camera_h264.yaml

See docs/cpp-api.md for package selection and local just cpp-dev-ros2.

Testing

just test-rust
just test-python
just test-typescript
just test-interop   # cross-language matrix under tests/interop/
just perf           # robot-bus → docs/perf-report.md (benches/robot_bus_perf/)
just perf-ros2      # ROS 2 comparison under benches/ros2_perf/
# equivalent:
# cargo test
# PYTHONPATH=bindings/python python3 bindings/python/tests/test_msgs_roundtrip.py
# PYTHONPATH=bindings/python python3 bindings/python/tests/test_typed_api.py
# cd bindings/typescript && npm test

Protobuf messages

proto/ follows ROS package layout: proto/<pkg>/{msg|srv|grpc}/v1/*.proto.

Generated stubs are not checked into git; run just gen-* after changing protos or before local tests (requires protoc 35.1). CI / release pipelines generate and ship them inside wheels, crates.io crates, npm packages, DEB/MSI, and Maven JAR/AAR — consumers of published packages do not need protoc.

• Transport body remains opaque bytes (including the gRPC gateway); the Rust Node SDK binds types at create time and auto encode/decode (create_publisher::<M>, etc.), or use *_raw; Python / TypeScript / Java pass a protobuf type for typed APIs (thin wrappers), or omit the type for raw bytes
• Typed create_publisher::<M> also best-effort registers topic → M::full_name() (e.g. sensor_msgs.msg.v1.Imu) with the broker console HTTP API so rbus topic list / topic info can show types without putting type metadata on the wire
• srv is a pair of *Request / *Response messages, not gRPC
• grpc (robot_bus) is the gateway RPC contract, started with the broker (default feature grpc)
• Messages live under the robot_bus namespace and do not claim top-level ROS package names like sensor_msgs; encoding is protobuf and is not interoperable with ROS CDR
• One-shot: just gen-all

Covered packages: builtin_interfaces, std_msgs, std_srvs, geometry_msgs, sensor_msgs, nav_msgs, tf2_msgs, trajectory_msgs, diagnostic_msgs, unique_identifier_msgs, shape_msgs, visualization_msgs, control_msgs, nav2_msgs, apriltag_msgs, foxglove_msgs (ported from Foxglove schemas, package foxglove_msgs.msg.v1).