PlotJuggler Bridge Released
A new lightweight server solves unreliable WiFi DDS discovery and eliminates the need for full ROS 2 installations on debug machines.
PlotJuggler Bridge, developed by intern Álvaro Valencia in collaboration with PlotJuggler maintainer Davide Faconti, is a new open-source server designed to simplify remote robotics telemetry access. It solves a common pain point: accessing data from a robot's ROS 2 or DDS network from a separate debugging machine is often hindered by unreliable DDS discovery over WiFi, security concerns from exposing the middleware network, and the inconvenience of installing a full ROS 2 stack on every laptop. The bridge runs on the robot or a connected computer, subscribes to topics locally, and streams the data through a simple WebSocket server, keeping the core robotics network isolated and secure.
Key technical features make it practical for real-world use. It performs runtime schema discovery, meaning clients like PlotJuggler 3.16 can access topics with custom ROS message types without needing those message definitions compiled locally. For efficiency over wireless links, it aggregates messages and offers optional ZSTD compression. It also handles large messages intelligently by stripping bulky array fields while preserving metadata. The workflow is streamlined: start the bridge on the robot-side machine, then connect PlotJuggler from any OS using the WebSocket client plugin. This development is part of a broader effort to create more flexible and accessible data visualization workflows for robotics, with more features promised for future PlotJuggler releases.
- Solves remote access by exposing ROS 2/DDS topics via a single WebSocket endpoint, eliminating unreliable DDS discovery over WiFi.
- Features runtime schema discovery, allowing clients to use custom ROS messages without local compilation or package installation.
- Includes bandwidth optimization with message aggregation and optional ZSTD compression, designed for stable streaming over wireless networks.
Why It Matters
It dramatically simplifies debugging and monitoring for robotics engineers by enabling secure, cross-platform telemetry access without complex network setup.