Codesys Ros2 [best] May 2026

Here’s a feature concept for bridging CODESYS (a leading IEC 61131-3 development environment for industrial controllers) with ROS 2 (Robot Operating System), aimed at simplifying hybrid robotics/automation projects.

Example architecture (typical)

• PLC (CODESYS runtime) — deterministic control, safety I/O, fieldbus
• Edge PC — ROS 2 nodes (perception, mapping, planning), OPC UA / DDS bridge
• Network — isolated VLAN or industrial Ethernet with QoS
• HMI / SCADA — read PLC variables and ROS 2 status via aggregator/gateway
• Cloud/Analytics — telemetry (non-critical) forwarded from edge

The Bridge Mechanism: ros2_codesys (3S/Smart Software Solutions)

CODESYS GmbH (now part of Schneider Electric) provides a dedicated ROS 2 library for CODESYS. This library introduces special function blocks that act as DDS (Data Distribution Service) publishers and subscribers—directly from IEC 61131-3 code. codesys ros2

How data flows:

• CODESYS → ROS 2: A ROS2_Publish block in Structured Text sends a JointState message or a custom interface.
• ROS 2 → CODESYS: A ROS2_Subscribe block listens to /cmd_vel (twist messages) and writes the linear/angular velocities into PLC variables.

Under the hood, the bridge uses the DDS protocol, the mandatory middleware of ROS 2. This means zero custom serialization. The CODESYS runtime on Windows/Linux connects to the same DDS domain as the ROS 2 nodes. Here’s a feature concept for bridging CODESYS (a

4. Toolchain Complexity

• You now need to manage two development environments: CODESYS IDE (Windows-only) and ROS 2 (Linux/macOS/Windows WSL2).
• CI/CD pipelines become hybrid: Build PLC projects with CODESYS.Automation command-line tools, and ROS 2 packages with colcon.