URML (open robot intent language): a validated intent layer over the MAVLink surface BlueOS hosts — request for comment

[idoco2003]

Hi BlueOS / Blue Robotics community,

URML (urml.dev) is a small, Apache-2.0 language for describing robot intent: it validates a request against a capability manifest and a safety envelope, then dispatches. URML's marine-runtime already drives a BlueROV over ArduSub/MAVLink — the surface BlueOS hosts on the companion computer — so BlueOS is the onboard layer directly beneath URML's existing BlueROV target, and I want to check where a validated-intent layer should sit relative to it.

Nothing here asks BlueOS to adopt, host, or maintain anything. This is a request for comment.

A validated URML program (navigate, hold depth, capture, report) lowers to the MAVLink commands BlueOS routes to the autopilot. The point is validate-before-actuate: a request outside the declared capability manifest (depth rating, thruster config, tether/comms regime) is refused before a command reaches the vehicle. URML does not replace BlueOS; it sits above the MAVLink BlueOS exposes.

Two real questions: (1) Is the MAVLink/ArduSub surface BlueOS exposes the right seam for an external validated-intent layer, or is there a higher-level BlueOS service interface that is more natural? (2) What should a URML manifest declare to describe a BlueROV / BlueBoat honestly (depth rating, thruster configuration, tether vs untethered, payload sensors)?

Full write-up: https://github.com/URML-MARS/URML/blob/main/docs/rfcs/0398-blueos-outreach.md

Thanks for BlueOS; an open onboard platform for accessible underwater robots is a great thing for the field.

Ido Yahalomi (URML, greenvh@gmail.com)

AI-assisted prose, maintainer-reviewed before posting (see VIBE.md). Human-only correspondence available on request.