Unitree G1
Bipedal humanoid robot by Unitree Robotics, designed as a compact research, development, and developer platform.
Applications
- Research
- Home Assistance
ROS 2 (Robot Operating System 2) is an open-source collection of libraries and tools for building robotic applications. Unlike ROS 1, ROS 2 was redesigned from scratch for production use: it is built on the DDS (Data Distribution Service) standard, supports peer-to-peer communication without a central master, provides QoS, real-time guarantees and runs natively on Linux, Windows, and macOS.
ROS 2 architecture has three layers: client libraries (rclcpp, rclpy), the RMW (ROS Middleware) abstraction, and a swappable DDS implementation underneath (Fast DDS, Cyclone DDS, RTI Connext, Gurum DDS). Each node is an independent process communicating via topics, services, and actions. ROS 2 also introduces lifecycle nodes, composable nodes, and the Nav2 navigation framework.
ROS 2 is maintained by the Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF) and a community of thousands of contributors. It powers humanoids (NASA Valkyrie, PAL Robotics TALOS), collaborative arms (Franka Emika, Universal Robots), mobile platforms (Clearpath, Fetch), and autonomous vehicles. Releases follow a time-based model: odd years are LTS releases (Foxy, Humble, Jazzy).
Middleware is a software layer that mediates between applications, services, sensors, drivers, and execution layers. In robotics, middleware is typically responsible for inter-process communication, message passing, hardware abstraction, and module integration within a single system. The most widely used robotics middleware is ROS (Robot Operating System), which provides a publish-subscribe message bus, service calls, and a rich ecosystem of packages.
A Runtime is the environment or execution layer used to run code, load libraries, manage dependencies, and operate applications or services — either in real time or during normal system operation. In robotics this includes real-time operating system (RTOS) runtimes, ROS 2 executor runtimes, containerised execution environments (Docker, podman), and embedded C++ runtimes on microcontrollers.
An API Library is a software package that exposes programmatic interfaces for communicating with a device, service, or system. In robotics it typically forms a lightweight integration layer built on top of the manufacturer's official API or an open-source project, abstracting low-level protocol details and providing language-native bindings (Python, C++, Java, etc.).
Robot Control denotes the role of software responsible for motion control, command execution, coordination of actuating elements and the direct operational logic of the robot.
Device Integration denotes the role of software responsible for communication, configuration, initialization and handling of specific devices, sensors, controllers or hardware components within a robotic system.
NASA Valkyrie, PAL Robotics TALOS, Clearpath Husky/Jackal, Franka Emika Panda, Universal Robots UR-series, Boston Dynamics Spot (ROS 2 wrapper), iRobot Create 3, ANYbotics ANYmal.
1,500+ active packages, ~5M monthly downloads, 700+ contributors to rclcpp/rclpy, 12,000+ ROSCon attendees.
Bipedal humanoid robot by Unitree Robotics, designed as a compact research, development, and developer platform.
Full-size general-purpose humanoid (~180 cm, ~47 kg). Bipedal, 5 DOF per leg, 3.3 m/s walking speed, 360° perception via 3D LiDAR + depth camera, Unitree M107 PMSM joint motors (~360 N·m peak knee torque).
Figure 03 is the third-generation humanoid robot from Figure AI, designed for Helix, home environments, and scalable mass production.
Minimal ros-base install ~1 GB, desktop ~3 GB, desktop-full with Gazebo ~6 GB.
License family: Permissive
Short-term release on Ubuntu 24.04, composable nodes improvements.
LTS on Ubuntu 24.04, supported until May 2029.
Introduces type adaptation, DDS improvements.
LTS based on Ubuntu 22.04. Full Nav2 and ros2_control integration.
First LTS release (3 years support). Stable rclcpp/rclpy API.
First stable ROS 2 release.
