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ROS 2 Interoperability

hiroz nodes — whether written in Rust, Python, or Go — speak the same Eclipse Zenoh wire protocol as rmw_zenoh_cpp, the official ROS 2 middleware plugin for Zenoh. This means they interoperate transparently: a Go subscriber can receive messages from a ROS 2 C++ talker, a Python publisher can send to a Rust listener, and so on.

Mixing Humble with Jazzy or Kilted?

If you need to bridge a Humble (legacy) network and a Jazzy / Kilted (modern) network, see the Cross-Distro Bridge chapter.

Prerequisites

  • A ROS 2 installation with rmw_zenoh_cpp and demo_nodes_cpp
  • A Zenoh router running on localhost:7447 (see Networking)

How It Works

All participants connect to the same Zenoh router on the local machine.

graph LR
accTitle: ROS 2 interop via shared Zenoh router with Rust, Python, and Go
accDescr: A ROS 2 C++ talker connects through rmw_zenoh_cpp to a local Zenoh router, which also serves hiroz nodes written in Rust, Python, and Go.
    talker["demo_nodes_cpp<br>talker"] --> rmw["rmw_zenoh_cpp"] --> router(["Zenoh router<br>localhost:7447"])
    router <-->|Zenoh| rust["Rust<br>(hiroz)"]
    router <-->|Zenoh| python["Python<br>(hiroz-py)"]
    router <-->|Zenoh| go["Go<br>(hiroz-go)"]

Note

The Zenoh router can be rmw_zenohd, zenohd, cargo run --example zenoh_router, or Docker. See Networking for all options.

Requirements for successful message exchange:

  • Both sides must use the same message type with matching RIHS01 type hashes
  • ROS 2 nodes must use rmw_zenoh_cpp (export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_zenoh_cpp)

Warning

If type hashes differ (e.g. mismatched message definitions), nodes silently drop messages. Enable RUST_LOG=hiroz=debug to inspect the hash in the key expression and compare with the ROS 2 side. See Troubleshooting for diagnosis steps.

Setup

# Terminal 1 — router
ros2 run rmw_zenoh_cpp rmw_zenohd

# Terminal 2 — ROS 2 talker
export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_zenoh_cpp
ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker

# Terminal 3 — hiroz listener (see Rust / Python / Go below)

Rust

cargo run --example demo_nodes_listener

For more detail on publisher/subscriber patterns see Pub/Sub.

Python

If you installed via pip (pre-built wheel), write your own listener.py using the code in Python Quick Start and run it with python listener.py.

If you cloned the repository (build from source), use the bundled example:

cd crates/hiroz-py
source .venv/bin/activate
python examples/topic_demo.py -r listener

Or go the other way — Python publishes, ROS 2 listens:

python examples/topic_demo.py -r talker
# On ROS 2 side:
ros2 topic echo /chatter std_msgs/msg/String

For more detail see Python Bindings.

Go

just -f crates/hiroz-go/justfile run-example subscriber

For more detail see Go Quick Start.