Meta-ROS
Pure-Python ROS implementation with ZeroMQ transport. No build tools, no C++ dependencies, runs anywhere Python runs.
The problem
ROS (Robot Operating System) is the de facto standard for robot software. But shipping a ROS node means shipping a full ROS environment - build tools, C++ dependencies, and platform-specific compilation. That friction makes rapid prototyping harder and deployment to constrained environments impossible.
pip install metaros1.0.0
Quickstart
Three files: a broker, a publisher, and a subscriber. No build step, no package manifest, no cmake.
Start the broker
from metaros import Broker
broker = Broker(host='localhost', port=5555)
broker.start() # Runs until Ctrl+CPublish messages
from metaros import Publisher
from metaros.messages import std_msgs
pub = Publisher('/chatter', std_msgs.String, broker='localhost:5555')
pub.publish(std_msgs.String(data='Hello, ROS!'))
pub.close()Subscribe to topics
from metaros import Subscriber
from metaros.messages import std_msgs
def callback(msg):
print(f"Received: {msg.data}")
sub = Subscriber('/chatter', std_msgs.String, callback, broker='localhost:5555')
sub.spin() # Blocks and processes messagesMessage types
Ships with the core ROS message definitions. Import and use them directly.
std_msgs
String, Int32, Float64, Bool, Header
geometry_msgs
Point, Pose, Twist, Vector3, Quaternion
sensor_msgs
Image, LaserScan, Imu, CameraInfo, PointCloud2
nav_msgs
Odometry, Path, OccupancyGrid
How it works
ZeroMQ for transport, MessagePack for serialization. The broker is a lightweight message router - publishers and subscribers connect to it over TCP, and it handles topic registration and message delivery.
Publishers send (topic, message_type, payload) tuples to the broker.
The broker maintains a topic registry and forwards messages to all subscribers of that topic.
Subscribers receive messages on their registered topics and invoke their callbacks.
No shared memory, no DDS, no C++ bridge. Just sockets and serialization.
Platform support
Linux
Tested on Ubuntu 20.04, 22.04, Arch
macOS
Tested on macOS 12, 13, 14
Windows
Tested on Windows 10, 11
Recognition
Best Capstone Project Award
PES University, Department of Computer Science, 2025
US Patent Application
Filed January 2025 - Pure-Python robotics middleware architecture
Published Survey Paper
CDSR 2025 - Lightweight ROS implementations for resource-constrained systems