Bridge Configuration

This page is for ROS users selecting which endpoints bridge_node exports. It does not change the core simulation’s controller or batch-execution settings.

Exported API groups

fleet_api controls batched fleet endpoints. per_robot_api controls groups of endpoints under each robot namespace. Both may be enabled for debugging, but for scale-sensitive deployments enable only the API that the client needs.

fleet_api:
  enabled: true
  states: true
  navigate: true
  stop: true
  attach: true
  execute_action: true
  joint_command: false

per_robot_api:
  enabled: false
  state_publishers: false
  tf: false
  command_topics: false
  services: false
  actions: false

The per-robot groups deliberately avoid a single all-or-nothing handler. For example, a debugging configuration can publish state while omitting actions and services that would otherwise add ROS entities for every robot.

Limit per-robot interfaces to controlled robots

When a scene includes mock people, external robots, or devices represented as Agent objects, do not leave the per-robot API at its all-Agent default. Use an allow-list for the robots controlled through ROS:

per_robot_api:
  enabled: true
  state_publishers: true
  tf: true
  command_topics: true
  services: false
  actions: false
  include_robots: [delivery_01, delivery_02]

exclude_robots is the inverse form when most Agents should be exposed. These filters prevent handler, publisher, subscriber, service, and action-server creation for excluded actors.

They do not filter the fleet API: its state provider currently includes all Agents, and its dispatcher resolves all uniquely named Agents. A manager is an execution group, not an API visibility group. Until the planned fleet API scope feature is available, disable unwanted fleet endpoints or expose a filtered view from an integration/plugin.

Common deployment choices

Scenario	`fleet_api`	`per_robot_api`
Fleet manager at scale	Enable required fleet commands and state	Disable
Existing Nav2-like tooling	Disable or enable for observation	Enable required groups
Hybrid debugging	Enable selected endpoints	Enable only inspected groups
Plugin-only RMF path	Disable	Disable

client_mode is a separate RMF adapter setting. It chooses the RMF-to-simulator control path; it does not automatically enable or disable exported bridge APIs. For example, python_fleet can still export /fleet/* for observation, while a plugin-only deployment can disable both groups.

Configuration files and assets

The bridge receives the core simulation YAML through its config_yaml parameter. For installed ROS packages, resolve bundled files using the ament prefix rather than a source-tree path:

ros2 run pybullet_fleet_ros bridge_node --ros-args \
  -p config_yaml:="$(ros2 pkg prefix pybullet_fleet_ros)/share/pybullet_fleet_ros/config/bridge_test.yaml"

Bridge and RMF configs may use package:// URIs for worlds, SDFs, URDFs, and meshes. bridge_node resolves these through the ROS ament index, which lets the same configuration work in Docker, a native overlay, and an installed package.

For complete parameter defaults and launch examples, consult the bridge README and the environment-specific setup guide linked from the ROS 2 landing page.