Software & Middleware

micro-ROS

micro-ROS is the official adaptation of ROS 2 for microcontrollers, bringing nodes, publishers, subscribers, and services to resource-constrained devices running real-time operating systems such as FreeRTOS and Zephyr. It communicates with the wider ROS 2 graph through the DDS-XRCE protocol via an agent process on a host computer, letting embedded firmware for sensors and motor controllers participate directly in the robot's middleware.

Why it matters for physical AI

Real robots split computation between application processors and microcontrollers; extending the middleware down to firmware unifies the stack, easing integration of low-level actuation and sensing with high-level autonomy.