zros 0.1.8

ZROS: ZeroMQ ROS-like framework

ZROS: A fast, lightweight ROS-like library

ZROS is a fast, lightweight ROS-like library designed to bring the ease of ROS-2 to Python projects that require minimal overhead and high performance, using ZeroMQ for fast, asynchronous communication.

It provides a simple, pure Python alternative for robotic applications, computer vision pipelines, and distributed systems where a full ROS installation might be overkill.

Key Features

• Fast & Lightweight: Built on top of ZeroMQ, ensuring low-latency communication between nodes.
• ROS-like API: Uses familiar concepts like Node, Publisher, Subscriber, Timer, and spin() making it easy for ROS-2 developers to adapt.
• No Complex Build System: Pure Python. No catkin_make, no colcon build, no source setup.bash. Just run your Python scripts.
• Computer Vision Ready: Includes a built-in CvBridge for seamless OpenCV image transport.

Installation

From PyPI (Recommended)

uv venv
uv pip install zros

From Source

git clone https://github.com/juliodltv/zros.git
cd zros
uv sync

Quick Start

Create a Publisher (publisher.py)

from zros import Node, CvBridge
import cv2

class CameraPublisher(Node):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__("camera_pub")
        self.pub = self.create_publisher("video_topic")
        self.bridge = CvBridge()
        self.cap = cv2.VideoCapture(0)
        self.create_timer(1/60, self.timer_callback)

    def timer_callback(self):
        ret, frame = self.cap.read()
        if ret:
            # msg is a dictionary
            msg = {
                "image": self.bridge.cv2_to_msg(frame),
                "info": "My Camera Frame"
            }
            self.pub.publish(msg)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    CameraPublisher().spin()

Create a Subscriber (subscriber.py)

from zros import Node, CvBridge
import cv2

class VideoSubscriber(Node):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__("video_sub")
        self.bridge = CvBridge()
        self.create_subscriber("video_topic", self.callback)

    def callback(self, msg):
        img = self.bridge.msg_to_cv2(msg["image"])
        # info = msg["info"]
        # print(info)
        cv2.imshow("Video", img)
        cv2.waitKey(1)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    VideoSubscriber().spin()

Running Examples

You can find another examples in the examples/ directory.

# Terminal 1
uv run zroscore

# Terminal 2
uv run publisher.py

# Terminal 3
uv run subscriber.py

Documentation

For detailed usage instructions, please refer to the ZROS Documentation.

Citation

@software{zros2026,
  author = {Julio De La Torre-Vanegas},
  title = {ZROS: A fast, lightweight ZeroMQ ROS-like library},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://github.com/juliodltv/zros}
}