Engineers write nodes that communicate over topics and services. Packages cover navigation, perception, and manipulation, and tools like RViz and Gazebo help visualize and simulate. ROS 2 is the current main line.
It is free, and it is a common base for robotics research and products.
Isaac Sim and Gazebo help with simulation. ROS suits robotics engineers.
// alternatives to ROS see all →
// related tools in Robotics
NVIDIA Isaac Sim
Robot simulation platform built on Omniverse
Foxglove
Visualization and observability platform for robots
Physical Intelligence
Foundation models for general-purpose robots
Skydio
Autonomous drones that navigate and inspect without a pilot
Covariant
AI robotics company that builds universal robot brains enabling robots to pick, handle, and manip...