copper-rs

Open source

Copper is an operating system for robots - build, run, and replay your entire robot deterministically.

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About

Copper is an operating system for robots - build, run, and replay your entire robot deterministically.

Copper Runtime & SDK

A Rust runtime for building, running, recording, and deterministically replaying static robot task graphs, from Linux to bare metal.

▶ Try Copper in your browser · Build your first app · Read the book

Why Copper

Built for robots	Built to ship
Static by design: task graphs are declared in RON and wired at compile time.	Runs anywhere: Linux, macOS, SBCs, and bare-metal microcontrollers.
Realtime first: zero-allocation, data-oriented execution on the hot path.	Deterministic replay: record a run, reproduce it, and inspect it offline.
Rust-first: ergonomic task APIs with compile-time guarantees.	Interoperable: connect to ROS 2 through Zenoh and migrate progressively.

Already flying, driving, swimming, spacefaring, and powering humanoids.

See It Run

These are the same Copper applications used on physical robots, recompiled for the browser. The simulator runs beside a live view of the Copper task graph and latency.

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  <strong><a href="https://cdn.copper-robotics.com/demo/balancebot/index.html">BalanceBot</a></strong>
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  A self-balancing robot simulation using the application that runs on Raspberry Pi hardware.
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  <a href="https://github.com/copper-project/extra-examples/tree/master/examples/cu_rp_balancebot">Source code</a>
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  <a href="https://cdn.copper-robotics.com/demo/flight-controller/index.html">
    
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  <strong><a href="https://cdn.copper-robotics.com/demo/flight-controller/index.html">Flight Controller</a></strong>
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  A quadcopter simulation using the control stack deployed on STM32H7 flight hardware.
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  <a href="https://github.com/copper-project/extra-examples/tree/master/examples/cu_flight_controller">Source code</a>
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Watch more robots built with Copper in the community showcase, or explore the cross-framework benchmarks.

Build Your First Copper App

Install the latest stable Rust toolchain, then:

bash

cargo install cargo-cunew
cargo cunew hello_copper
cd hello_copper
cargo run

In about 30 seconds, you have a typed source → task → sink graph that prints its first messages and records logs/hello-copper.copper. Start with copperconfig.ron, src/main.rs, and src/tasks.rs; the generated justfile also provides helpers for logs, CopperLists, topology (just dag), the exact generated process schedule (just plan), post-execution timing from the default Copper log (just plan-log), and replay.

How Copper Fits Together

Stage	What happens
Declare	Define the static task graph in `copperconfig.ron`.
Generate	`#[copper_runtime]` wires the graph at compile time.
Run	Execute deterministically with a zero-allocation hot path.
Record	Capture messages, timing, and state in a unified `.copper` log.
Inspect	Replay a recorded run, export its data, and inspect its state.

The robot is a static thing: Copper turns its declared graph into a purpose-built runtime, then records messages, timing, and state into one replayable log.

Live telemetry: stream robot data and structured logs to a ground station over UDP, view live task outputs, and save a replayable .copper archive. A live Copper twin can reconstruct selected deterministic task outputs locally to reduce bandwidth. Try the telemetry demo.

Explore Copper

Learn	Book · Runtime overview · API docs
Build	Project templates · RON reference · Component catalog
Go deeper	Examples · Logging and replay · Python support
Project	Supported platforms · Roadmap · Release notes
Community	Contributing · GitHub Discussions · Discord