nonROS

NonROS is a term used to describe software, middleware, and architectures for robotic systems that do not rely on the Robot Operating System (ROS) or its successor ROS 2. It encompasses a range of alternative communication and control stacks, from industrial automation frameworks to research-oriented middleware.

In nonROS designs, software components typically run as distributed processes that exchange data via publish/subscribe, service calls, or streaming interfaces. Emphasis is often placed on real-time performance, determinism, security, and compatibility with embedded hardware or vendor toolchains. Because it is not tied to the ROS ecosystem, nonROS solutions may implement custom data models, logging, and simulation tools tailored to a specific domain.

Common technologies include Data Distribution Service (DDS), Lightweight Communications and Marshalling (LCM), Yet Another Robot Platform (YARP), ZeroMQ, and MQTT. These frameworks provide messaging, quality-of-service controls, and sometimes tooling for testing and deployment. Some teams combine nonROS middleware with ROS or ROS 2 at higher levels, using ROS for high-level planning while keeping critical subsystems independent.

Advantages include potential for tighter real-time guarantees, reduced overhead, easier integration with legacy or vendor-specific systems, and more explicit control over security and certification. Limitations include a smaller ecosystem and tooling, greater development and maintenance effort, and fragmented standards compared to the broad, ROS-centered community.

Historically, ROS popularized modular robotics software, but nonROS approaches remain common in industries with strict timing constraints or proprietary requirements.