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This paper introduces ROS2 Connect, a WebSocket-based communication framework designed to facilitate secure and transparent interaction within the Robot Operating System 2 (ROS2) over wide-area networks (WANs). By circumventing the limitations of multicast discovery mechanisms inherent in traditional DDS and RTPS architectures, ROS2 Connect enables seamless bidirectional communication without necessitating changes to existing network infrastructure. Experimental results reveal that ROS2 Connect significantly outperforms existing solutions in terms of latency, stability, and scalability, establishing a robust platform for teleoperation and distributed robotics applications in WAN environments.
ROS2 Connect achieves lower latency and higher stability for remote robotic operations, revolutionizing how distributed systems communicate over WANs.
The Robot Operating System 2 (ROS2) has become a widely adopted framework for the development of distributed robotic systems. However, its communication architecture, based on DDS and RTPS, relies on multicast discovery mechanisms that are typically unavailable in wide-area network (WAN) environments, making remote operation challenging. This work presents ROS2 Connect, a WebSocket-based communication framework that enables transparent and secure ROS2 interaction across routed networks without requiring modifications to network infrastructure or DDS configurations. The proposed client-server architecture supports bidirectional exchange of topics, services, actions, and system data while integrating authentication and access control mechanisms. Experimental evaluation over a real WAN connection demonstrates significantly lower latency, higher stability, and improved scalability compared to existing solutions, including DDS Router, rosbridge and Zenoh. Initial results show that ROS2 Connect provides a reliable foundation for teleoperation and distributed robotics applications over wide-area networks.
