NitROS

Robot communication in 3 lines. Zero config. Just works.

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The Problem

Before (ROS2):

1. Create .msg file + edit CMakeLists.txt + package.xml
2. colcon build
3. Wait minutes
4. Fix build errors
5. source install/setup.bash
6. Write code

After (NitROS):

1. pip install nitros. Done.

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Installation

pip install nitros

That's it. No CMake, no colcon, no setup scripts.

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Get Started

from nitros import Publisher, Subscriber

# Publisher
pub = Publisher("sensors")
pub.send({"temperature": 23.5, "humidity": 65})

# Subscriber
def callback(msg):
    print(msg)

sub = Subscriber("sensors", callback)

That's it! No configuration, No setup, It just works.

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Usage

Camera Streaming

# Publisher
pub = Publisher("camera", compression="image")
pub.send(frame)  # numpy array from cv2

# Subscriber
def show_frame(frame):
    cv2.imshow("Camera", frame)
    cv2.waitKey(1)

Subscriber("camera", show_frame)

Point Cloud

pub = Publisher("lidar", compression="pointcloud")
pub.send(points)  # numpy array, ~5x compression

Options

Publisher("topic", compression="image")       # JPEG compression (~10x)
Publisher("topic", compression="pointcloud")  # quantization + LZ4 (~5x)
Publisher("topic", log=True)                  # enable logging
Subscriber("topic", callback, log=True)       # enable logging

Supported Types

Dicts, lists, numpy arrays, PyTorch tensors (auto-converted to numpy) — auto-detected, auto-serialized.

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Why NitROS?

Zero config	mDNS auto-discovery. No IPs, no ports, no config files.
Send anything	Dicts, numpy arrays, PyTorch tensors (auto-converted to numpy).
Smart compression	JPEG for images, LZ4 for point clouds.
Non-blocking	send() never blocks.
Auto-reconnection	Background threading handles network issues.

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CLI Tools

Already familiar with ros2 topic? You already know how to use this.

nitros topic list
nitros topic echo camera
nitros topic hz camera
nitros topic info camera

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Limitations

NitROS is not a full ROS2 replacement. It focuses on making simple pub/sub communication easy.

What's missing:

• Transform system (TF/TF2)
• URDF support
• Action servers
• Service calls
• RQT tools
• Hardware drivers

Known issues:

• mDNS can be unreliable on some enterprise networks
• Not stress-tested at large scale
• Limited to basic pub/sub patterns

Best used for:

• Quick prototypes
• Simple robot-to-laptop communication
• Competition robots
• Learning robot communication basics

If you need the full ROS2 ecosystem, stick with ROS2. NitROS is for when you just want pub/sub to work.

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vs Others

	NitROS	ROS2	ZeroMQ
Setup	pip install	Hours	Minutes
Config	None	Yes	Yes
Type definitions	Auto	Manual .msg	Manual
Discovery	Auto (mDNS)	DDS config	Manual
Compression	Built-in	Manual	Manual

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License

Apache-2.0 License - see LICENSE

Contributing: Issues and PRs welcome at github.com/InputNamePlz/NitROS