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ROS 2 Bridge

The fastest way to integrate a robot that already runs ROS 2.

ROS 2 robots integrate through an external bridge that translates ROS 2 (DDS) topics to and from the local Zenoh Cap'n Proto topics the agent consumes. The agent itself always uses the local-Zenoh Cap'n Proto path, so from its perspective a bridged ROS 2 robot looks identical to a native one.

How it fits

  ROS 2 stack (DDS)  <──►  ROS 2 ↔ Zenoh bridge  <──►  local Zenoh (Cap'n Proto)  <──►  rover-agent  <──►  cloud
  • Uplink: the bridge subscribes to your ROS 2 telemetry/feedback topics, converts them to Cap'n Proto, and publishes them on the local Zenoh robot/** key space.
  • Downlink: the bridge subscribes to the local command key, converts commands into ROS 2 messages, and publishes them onto your ROS 2 graph.

The local Zenoh keys carry no robot id — the agent adds the robot's identity when it relays to and from the cloud.

See Architecture for the end-to-end flow.

What you do

  1. Install the agent on the robot's Linux host by running its bootstrap command, which installs and enrolls the robot in one step.
  2. Clone and build the bridge. Clone the Rover Nexus ROS 2 bridge repository into your ROS 2 workspace and build it with your usual ROS 2 build tool (for example, colcon build), then run it alongside your ROS 2 stack (same host or same DDS domain). .
  3. Map topics between your ROS 2 message types and the Rover Nexus messaging contract:
  4. Telemetry, faults/events, objects, mission feedback → uplink.
  5. Mission commands, teleop, mode/velocity, settings, field rules → downlink. See Telemetry Mappings. The target Cap'n Proto message definitions are available via the client libraries.
  6. Declare capabilities so the cloud can match missions to the robot.

Topic mapping (conceptual)

ROS 2 side Direction Local Zenoh key
Your telemetry/odometry/status topics Uplink a sub-key of robot/**, e.g. robot/telemetry/motion
Your fault/diagnostic topics Uplink a sub-key of robot/**, e.g. robot/fault
Your command/teleop topics Downlink command (or command/**)

You run the bridge by cloning the Rover Nexus ROS 2 bridge repository into your ROS 2 workspace and building it. The supported ROS 2 distributions and the bridge's configuration/topic-mapping format are coming soon — contact support@rovernexus.com for early access.

Next steps