This technical insights paper is for developers of autonomous and semi-autonomous systems based on ROS (Robot Operating System) who need to bring these systems to a deployable production-grade state, including those with safety certification requirements. While the original ROS enables robotics systems to be rapidly created, it was not designed for the rigors of production deployment or safety certification.
Enter ROS 2: an upgrade to expand ROS into new use cases while retaining a fundamentally ROS-like environment. ROS 2 is based on the open-standard Data Distribution Service™ (DDS) framework, already in use in thousands of critical applications worldwide.
While ROS 2 is based on DDS, its implementation uses only a subset of the full range of capabilities of DDS for demanding real-world applications. This hybrid system design approach brings capabilities far beyond what ROS or ROS 2 alone can offer.
This guide will introduce the capabilities of DDS and explore the potential of a hybrid system for achieving production grade deployment.