OhhO Bridge

Connect any robot. Even the ones that don't speak ROS.

• Category: Foundation
• Accent: violet
• Live app: Open bridge console

Protocol adapters that translate between any robot's native protocol and the OhhO platform. Bridge a DDS-native humanoid, a MAVLink drone, a CANopen mobile base, an OPC UA factory cell or a Modbus arm into standard ROS 2 topics — no fork, no rewrite.

Overview (hero)

OhhO Connect handles the transport; OhhO Bridge handles the language. Bridge is a library of protocol adapters that translate between a robot's native protocol — a DDS LowCmd/LowState interface, a MAVLink autopilot, a CANopen motor bus, an OPC UA factory cell, a Modbus PLC arm — and the standard ROS 2 topics every OhhO product already speaks. One adapter per protocol family, and any robot joins the platform.

Highlights

• DDS-native ↔ ROS 2 topics
• MAVLink ↔ ROS 2 topics
• CAN bus / CANopen (CiA 402) ↔ ROS 2
• OPC UA ↔ ROS 2 (Industry 4.0)
• PROFINET · EtherNet/IP ↔ ROS 2
• MQTT · VDA 5050 (AGV/AMR fleets)
• Modbus · EtherCAT (industrial arms)
• ROS-Industrial arm driver compatibility
• Joint-index maps per robot model
• Impedance-gain defaults included

What you get

• ROS 2 is the lingua franca of the OhhO platform — but most commercial robots don't speak it natively. Humanoids talk Cyclone DDS through a native SDK with custom LowCmd/LowState IDL. Drones speak MAVLink. Mobile bases and AGVs speak CANopen over a CAN bus. Factory cells speak OPC UA. Industrial arms speak Modbus, EtherCAT, PROFINET or EtherNet/IP. Warehouse fleets speak VDA 5050 over MQTT. OhhO Bridge is the layer that translates each one into the standard ROS 2 topics the rest of the platform expects.
• Each bridge is a thin ROS 2 node — or a browser-side codec for Web Serial — that subscribes to the robot's native protocol and republishes as standard topics: Twist on /cmd_vel, JointState on /joint_states, Imu on /imu/data, Odometry on /odom. In the other direction, it takes your ROS 2 commands and calls the robot's native protocol. For a DDS-native humanoid, that means mapping Twist to HighCmd velocity fields and JointState to LowCmd motor commands with sensible default impedance gains (kp/kd). For a CANopen base, it means SDO/PDO object dictionary translation. For an OPC UA cell, it means browsing the server's address space and mapping nodes to topics.
• Bridge is what makes 'any robot' literally true. Without it, OhhO's intelligence and operations products work on any ROS 2-compatible robot — which is a lot, but not everything. With Bridge, a DDS-native humanoid, a MAVLink survey drone, a CANopen AGV, an OPC UA-integrated factory arm and a Modbus-controlled SCARA all appear to the platform as standard ROS 2 robots, and every console works unchanged. And because Bridge speaks the industry standards the factory floor already runs on — PROFINET for German automotive, EtherNet/IP for North American manufacturing, VDA 5050 for warehouse fleets — a robot on OhhO plugs into the systems your facility already has, not the other way around.

Features

• DDS-native humanoid adapter — Translates a native DDS LowCmd/LowState and HighCmd/HighState interface to and from standard ROS 2 topics, with per-model joint-index maps for the humanoid family you're driving.
• MAVLink drone adapter — Bridges MAVLink heartbeat, attitude, global position and manual control to ROS 2 Imu, Odometry and Twist — so a drone appears in the platform like any other robot.
• CAN bus / CANopen adapter — Translates CANopen object dictionaries (CiA 402 motion profile, SDO/PDO) to ROS 2 JointState, Twist and Odometry — the standard protocol for mobile robot motor controllers, AGVs and embedded bases.
• OPC UA adapter — Browses an OPC UA server's address space and maps nodes to ROS 2 topics — so a robot integrates with Industry 4.0 factory cells, MES/SCADA systems and digital twin platforms that already speak OPC UA.
• PROFINET & EtherNet/IP adapters — Real-time industrial Ethernet bridges for the two dominant factory-network ecosystems — PROFINET for European/Siemens manufacturing, EtherNet/IP for North American/Rockwell manufacturing. A robot on OhhO speaks the network your plant already runs.
• MQTT & VDA 5050 adapter — Bridges the VDA 5050 AGV/AMR fleet standard over MQTT — so OhhO Fleet interoperates with warehouse management systems and master control software from Linde, Toyota, MiR, KION and the rest of the VDA 5050 ecosystem.
• Industrial arm adapters — Modbus TCP/RTU and EtherCAT bridges for PLC-driven arms, plus ROS-Industrial compatibility for the major industrial arm families — exposing joint state and joint commands as standard ROS 2 topics.
• PLC integration (IEC 61131-3) — Bridge maps ROS 2 topics to PLC-readable signals, so a robot exchanges data with controllers programmed in ladder logic, structured text or function blocks — the languages every factory PLC already speaks.
• Impedance-gain defaults — When translating ROS joint commands into a native DDS motor command, Bridge applies sensible default kp/kd profiles per joint — so position control works out of the box without per-servo tuning.
• Browser-side codecs — For Web Serial connections, Bridge ships browser-native protocol codecs for common serial bases — so Connect can talk firmware-direct with no onboard PC in the loop.
• Community-extensible — Each bridge is a standalone adapter module. New protocols are added as a new adapter — no platform fork, no core rewrite.

How it works

1. Install the bridge — Select the bridge for your robot's protocol — DDS, MAVLink, CANopen, OPC UA, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, MQTT, VDA 5050, Modbus, serial, or a community adapter — and install it alongside OhhO Frame.
2. Map the joints / signals — Bridge loads the joint-index map for a humanoid, the object dictionary for a CANopen base, or the OPC UA address space for a factory cell — and applies sensible defaults.
3. Run the node — The bridge node connects to the robot's native protocol and starts republishing standard ROS 2 topics.
4. Use every console — Pilot, Autonomy, Fleet, Mind and every other OhhO product now work on your robot unchanged — and your plant's existing systems keep speaking their own protocols.

Supported protocols

Specs

Plans

Recommended plan: Builder. Most teams only need one bridge — the one for their robot. Builder includes a single adapter, which is enough to bring one robot family onto the platform. Teams running mixed fleets choose Fleet for all adapters; enterprises with proprietary protocols choose Forge for custom bridges.

FAQ

Do I need Bridge if my robot already speaks ROS 2? No. If your robot publishes standard ROS 2 topics natively, Connect + Frame are enough. Bridge is for robots that speak a native non-ROS protocol — DDS, MAVLink, CANopen, OPC UA, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, MQTT, VDA 5050, Modbus, and so on.

Which humanoid models are supported? The DDS bridge covers any humanoid with a published URDF and SDK header — Bridge builds the joint-index map from those, so a new model is one config away.

Can Bridge integrate with my factory's PLC and SCADA systems? Yes. The OPC UA adapter browses your server's address space and maps nodes to ROS 2 topics; the PROFINET and EtherNet/IP adapters speak the industrial Ethernet your plant already runs; and IEC 61131-3 mapping lets PLCs exchange signals with robots over standard topics.

Does Bridge support warehouse AGV/AMR fleet standards? Yes. The VDA 5050 adapter over MQTT lets OhhO Fleet interoperate with warehouse management systems and master control software that speak the VDA 5050 standard — so your robots integrate with the fleet infrastructure your warehouse already has.

Can I write my own bridge? Yes. Each bridge is a standalone adapter module. On Forge, the OhhO team builds and maintains custom bridges for proprietary protocols.

Related products

• OhhO Connect
• OhhO Frame
• OhhO Pilot