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Micro XRCE-DDS

The development of microROS and uXRCE-DDS is closely related to the development needs of robotics and IoT technologies. The following is an introduction to their historical development:

Historical​

  • Project Launch: microROS was developed as part of the OFERA (Open Framework for Embedded Robotic Applications) project within the EU's Horizon 2020 framework, with participation from companies from various countries, including Bosch, FIWARE, PIAP, Acutronic Robotics, and eProsima. Its goal is to bring ROS 2 functionality to resource-constrained microcontrollers (MCUs), bridging the gap between these and larger processors used in robotics applications.
  • Technological evolution: It is, to some extent, an improved replacement for rosserial. rosserial mainly packages ROS 1 messages for transmission over a serial connection, while microROS is compatible with ROS 2 and has richer features. It can not only package ROS 2 messages but also provide more ROS 2 features to the MCU.
  • Application Expansion: As microROS has developed, it has gradually been applied in the field of robotics. Its goal is to introduce ROS 2 to a wide range of microcontrollers, mainly targeting mid-range 32-bit microcontroller series. For example, Renesas Electronics has cooperated with eProsima to develop a ROS robot controller based on RA6M5, fully integrating Micro-ROS into the EK RA6M5 MCU. ### Historical Development of uXRCE-DDS
  • The standard proposes: DDS-XRCE (Data Distribution Service for Extremely Resource Constrained Environments) is one of the upcoming ROS 2 communication protocol standards, whose purpose is to enable resource-constrained devices to access the DDS global data space.
  • Library Development: eProsima Micro XRCE-DDS is a library that implements the DDS-XRCE protocol, developed by eProsima. It follows a client/server architecture and consists of two core components: the Micro XRCE-DDS Client and the Micro XRCE-DDS Agent. This allows resource-constrained devices such as microcontrollers to communicate with the DDS world like any other DDS participant.
  • Application and Integration: uXRCE-DDS is gradually being used in some embedded systems and robotics projects. For example, PX4 replaced the Fast-RTPS bridge with uXRCE-DDS in version 1.13, enabling uORB messages to be published and subscribed to on companion computers like ROS 2 topics, providing fast and reliable integration between PX4 and ROS 2.