Vulcanexus

Vulcanexus

Vulcanexus is an all-in-one toolset built around the ROS 2 (Robot Operating System 2) ecosystem. It is developed and maintained by eProsima, the same team behind Fast DDS, and plays a key role in the ARISE framework by providing a solid, extensible, and production-grade base for robotics middleware. It is fully compatible with existing robotics applications developed using ROS 2, allowing seamless migration and integration without requiring changes to current ROS 2-based projects.

Vulcanexus is designed to streamline the development of robotic applications by offering high-performance communication, advanced tooling, and system-wide integration capabilities.

Unlike the standard ROS 2 distribution, Vulcanexus introduces a tailored suite of enhancements, packages, and configuration profiles that simplify ROS 2 usage in real-world deployments.

For more detailed information, guidance, and the latest updates, please refer to the official Vulcanexus documentation at docs.vulcanexus.org.

What Vulcanexus Offers

Vulcanexus provides significant improvements and additions over base ROS 2:

1. Advanced DDS Support

  • Integrates Fast DDS v3+ (vs v2.14 in ROS 2 Jazzy) with better support for: - Zero-copy transfers - Customizable discovery servers - Data filtering and optimized serialization

  • DDS Keys support for instance-based data tracking

  • OMG DDS-XTypes v1.3 support for dynamic data modeling

2. Better Discovery and Performance

  • Uses Discovery Server v3 to optimize discovery and reduce peer-to-peer overhead

  • Minimizes network traffic and improves performance in lossy/cloud scenarios

3. Developer Tooling

4. Modular Meta-Packages

Vulcanexus is distributed as modular meta-packages:

  • vulcanexus-core: Core communication and system libraries

  • vulcanexus-tools: Introspection and debugging utilities

  • vulcanexus-cloud: DDS Router and tools for cloud-based communication

  • vulcanexus-micro: Embedded ROS 2 with Micro XRCE-DDS support

  • vulcanexus-simulation: Gazebo/Ignition plugins and models

  • vulcanexus-desktop: Full-featured package with visualization and simulation tools

5. Deployment and Packaging

Compatibility with ROS 2 Applications

Vulcanexus is fully compatible with existing robotics applications developed using ROS 2. This means that developers can run their current ROS 2-based projects on Vulcanexus without modifying source code, launch files, or message/service definitions. All standard ROS 2 APIs, tools (such as ros2 topic, ros2 service, and ros2 launch), and communication patterns are supported out of the box. As a result, teams can migrate or integrate their applications with Vulcanexus seamlessly, benefiting from its enhanced features and performance improvements while maintaining interoperability with the broader ROS 2 ecosystem.

Use in ARISE

Vulcanexus is central to the ARISE architecture and acts as the default middleware stack across several core components:

  • NGSI-LD Context Broker: Vulcanexus provides the underlying Fast DDS runtime used to bind ROS 2 topics to NGSI-LD entities. The ARISE Broker natively supports this integration, enabling seamless OT/IT data flows.

  • ROS4HRI Module Execution: All open-source HRI components developed within ARISE are deployed over Vulcanexus, ensuring compatibility, observability, and extensibility.

  • TEFs and FSTP Pilots: Testing and experimentation facilities (TEFs) and third-party projects (FSTPs) rely on Vulcanexus as a consistent middleware base, guaranteeing that applications can be deployed and tested under uniform communication and runtime conditions.

Interoperability with FIWARE Ecosystem

One of Vulcanexus’s standout capabilities in ARISE is its interoperability with the FIWARE ecosystem. This is accomplished through a native integration with the DDS Enabler, a component that bridges ROS 2 (based on DDS) with FIWARE’s NGSI-LD-based context management systems.

The DDS Enabler

The DDS Enabler is an open-source library and runtime developed by eProsima and the FIWARE Foundation. It has been integrated into the Orion-LD Context Broker to:

  • Listen to DDS topics (used in ROS 2 systems)

  • Translate data into NGSI-LD entities

  • Publish and subscribe to context updates via HTTP APIs or ROS 2 DDS samples

This makes it possible for robots running ROS 2 (via Vulcanexus) to:

  • Expose telemetry and perception data as NGSI-LD entities to FIWARE systems

  • React to context changes (e.g., commands from a manufacturing execution system)

  • Maintain state in a shared, federated information model

In ARISE, this integration enables robust OT/IT convergence:

  • OT devices (e.g., robots, sensors, actuators) publish data to ROS 2 topics

  • Vulcanexus and the DDS Enabler push this data into the NGSI-LD context broker

  • FIWARE systems (e.g., digital twins, analytics dashboards) subscribe to context changes

  • Commands issued through NGSI-LD can be mapped back into ROS 2 topics

This closed-loop system architecture allows the creation of real-time digital twins, predictive maintenance scenarios, and cloud-assisted robotics workflows.

Vulcanexus HRI

Vulcanexus provides a set of tools and libraries to facilitate the development of Human-Robot Interaction applications, leveraging the latest capabilities of Fast DDS to smooth the integration of HRI applications within the ROS 2 ecosystem. A more detailed explanation of the Vulcanexus HRI capabilities and how to use them can be found in the following section:

Resources

For more information, resources, and support regarding Vulcanexus, you can explore the following links: