Transitive: A Full-stack Framework for Robotics

by Transitive Robotics

Designed with ROS in mind, but also works without.

Key Features

1. Live-data synchronization between robot, cloud, and UI ("MQTTSync")
   • Transparent and efficient data-sharing without the need for APIs
   • Reactively re-render UI elements when data on a robot changes (demo).
2. Full-stack package management
   • Notion of packages ("capabilities") that provides encapsulation and allows sharing with third-parties
   • Deployment mechanism incl. over-the-air auto-updates
   • Handles cross-device version dependencies
   • Sandboxing of capabilities, both on robot and in the cloud
   • UI component abstraction
     • Using Web Components
     • Easy to embed in other web applications
     • Easy to embed in React, Angular, etc.
3. Authentication and authorization
   • For robots in the fleet
   • For web application users
   • For third-party apps

Setup

Using Docker

This is the easiest and recommended way. Follow our self-hosting instructions: https://transitiverobotics.com/docs/develop/self-hosting.

Alternatively: Run from Source

If you really want to hack on the Transitive core, clone this repo and follow these steps:

• Go into the cloud/ directory.
• Copy sample.env to .env and edit appropriately (variables are documented in the file itself).
• Start all services:
  • In development:
    • ./dev.sh
    • Ensure all required subdomains are set up, see below.
    • Go to http://portal.localhost
  • In production:
    • docker-compose build && docker-compose up -d
    • Add all required subdomains to your DNS records as CNAMES or using a wildcard.
    • Then go to http://portal.YOUR-DOMAIN.NAME

From the portal you can add robots and other devices just like with the hosted version, i.e., by executing the curl command shown there.

Regarding Subdomains

Transitive uses a number of subdomains, such as portal. and data.. In production you need to make sure they all resolve for your domain to your host. In development, the COMPOSE_PROFILES variable in .env should be set to dev, in which case it will start a small mDNS service to take care of it. Just make sure your machine and any local robots you are testing with can resolve mDNS domains. See README.md in mDNS service.

Get in Touch

We love to collaborate! We welcome all comments, questions, and suggestions. Please join the Slack community: https://transitiverobotics.com/slack.

License

Apache 2.0.