lpigeon/ros-mcp-server

ROS-MCP-Server connects large language models (such as Claude, GPT, and Gemini) to robots, enabling bidirectional communication with no changes to existing robot source code.

Why ROS-MCP?

• No robot source code changes → just add the rosbridge node to your existing ROS setup.
• True two-way communication → LLMs can both control robots and observe everything happening on the Robot.
• Full context → publish & subscribe to topics, call services & actions, set parameters, read sensor data, and monitor robot state in real time.
• Deep ROS understanding → guides the LLM to discover available topics, services, actions, and their types (including custom ones) — enabling it to use them with the right syntax without manual configuration.
• Works with any MCP client → built on the open MCP standard, supporting Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Cursor, and more.
• Works across ROS versions → compatible across ROS 2 (Jazzy, Humble, and others) and ROS 1 distros.

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🎥 Examples in Action

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🏭 Example - AI Agent diagnosis of Industrial Robot End Effector (Video)

• The MCP server connects Claude to a production industrial robot, with only the technician manuals as reference.
• Claude discovers the robot's custom topic and service types and their syntax on its own.
• From a single prompt to test the gripper, it reads the manuals, runs its own tests, finds an anomaly, and reports the root cause.

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🤖 Example - Controlling "Wilson" with natural language (video)
From a single prompt — "Grab a Coke from the fridge & go to the living room." — Google Gemini uses the MCP server to navigate and manipulate autonomously. Built on ROS 2 with Nav2 (SLAM) for mapping and navigation, and MoveIt to command the manipulator.

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🐕 Example - Controlling Unitree Go2 in NVIDIA Isaac Sim (video)
The MCP server connects Claude to a simulated Unitree Go2 quadruped in NVIDIA Isaac Sim, interpreting natural language commands to navigate and control the robot.

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🛠 Getting Started

Follow the installation guide to get started.

ROS-MCP works with Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client.

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📚 More Examples & Tutorials

Browse our examples to see the server in action.
We welcome community PRs with new examples and integrations!

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🤝 Contributing

We love contributions of all kinds:

• Bug fixes and documentation updates
• New features (e.g., Action support, permissions)
• Additional examples and tutorials

Check out the contributing guidelines and see issues tagged good first issue to get started.

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📜 License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0.