Proton Protocol Presented at ROSCon 2026 for Embedded Robotics
Overview
At ROSCon 2026, Tom Wallis of OTTO by Rockwell Automation presented Proton, a lightweight communication protocol designed to bridge custom embedded hardware with modern ROS 2 systems. The transport-agnostic solution utilizes Protocol Buffers and supports Ethernet, serial, and potentially CAN to reduce overhead on resource-constrained devices.
Generated from attributed reports · Updated 3 days ago
Event evidence and corrections
1 attributed source owners. Ownership does not establish independent confirmation. Quantities are reported separately and are never added together.
Reported quantity · IMU data frequency: 100 other · Basis not reported
“knowledge of each other. Meanwhile, the embedded microcontroller communicates through a far simpler protocol. Benchmark Results To evaluate Proton’s efficiency, the presenter conducted tests using an ESP32 development board and simulated IMU data running at 100 Hz. The protocol was compared against micro-ROS, Zenoh Pico, and EtherNet/IP. Measurements focused on metrics most relevant to embedded systems such as libra”
Exact source · revision 1clearpath-robotics
Report timeline
Follow attributed reports and material updates.
- Open Robotics — XHere is you #ROS and open source robotics news for the week of November 2nd, 2026: 🍕ROSCon Italy 2026 is a smashing success. 🍕ROS Meetup in Cartagena Colombia tomorrow 🍕ManyForge: a graphical manipulation framework 🍕Lopsy: a ROS 2 cable robot with a full sim ⬇️⬇️⬇️
Here is you #ROS and open source robotics news for the week of November 2nd, 2026: 🍕ROSCon Italy 2026 is a smashing success! 🍕ROS Meetup in Cartagena Colombia tomorrow 🍕ManyForge: a graphical manipulation framework 🍕Lopsy: a ROS 2 cable robot with a full sim ⬇️⬇️⬇️
- Clearpath Robotics — XAt #ROSCon2026, Tom Wallis of @OTTOMotors / @Clearpath presented Proton — a lightweight, transport-agnostic communication protocol to help bridge custom embedded hardware with modern ROS 2-based systems. 👉 Learn more on the blog: https://bit.ly/4A7tbpg
At #ROSCon2026, Tom Wallis of @OTTOMotors / @Clearpath presented Proton — a lightweight, transport-agnostic communication protocol to help bridge custom embedded hardware with modern ROS 2-based systems. 👉 Learn more on the blog: https://bit.ly/4A7tbpg
- Clearpath Robotics — BlogSignalProton: A Lightweight Communication Protocol for Embedded Robotics Systems
At ROSCon 2026, Tom Wallis from OTTO by Rockwell Automation presented Proton, a lightweight communication protocol developed to address the need for efficient data exchange between custom embedded boards and modern ROS 2-based systems. Designed with minimal resource usage and transport independence (supporting Ethernet, serial, and potentially CAN), Proton utilizes Protocol Buffers and a signal registry model to simplify application logic on resource-constrained hardware. It includes a ROS 2 bridge for transparent integration, allowing existing autonomy stacks to operate without knowledge of the underlying protocol details. The project aims to reduce overhead in embedded subsystems while maintaining compatibility with evolving robotics software ecosystems.
Event coverage history
Current attention 3·Peak within the comparable range 10（2026-11-05 17:00 UTC）·Change within the comparable range over 24 hours -50%
The trend compares participants observed continuously; its scope may be narrower than current attention totals. Hover or click to explore hourly observations, or use the left and right arrow keys.
Timezone · UTC
Article dates follow your selected timezone. Briefing editions use Hong Kong time (UTC+8).