ROSCell: A ROS2-Based Framework for Automated Formation and Orchestration of Multi-Robot Systems

Abstract

Modern manufacturing under High-Mix-Low-Volume requirements increasingly relies on flexible and adaptive matrix production systems, which depend on interconnected heterogeneous devices and rapid task reconfiguration. To address these needs, we present ROSCell, a ROS2-based framework that enables the flexible formation and management of a computing continuum across various devices. ROSCell allows users to package existing robotic software as deployable skills and, with simple requests, assemble isolated cells, automatically deploy skill instances, and coordinate their communication to meet task objectives. It provides a scalable and low-overhead foundation for adaptive multi-robot computing in dynamic production environments. Experimental results show that, in the idle state, ROSCell substantially reduces CPU, memory, and network overhead compared to K3s-based solutions on edge devices, highlighting its energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness for large-scale deployment in production settings. The source code, examples, and documentation will be provided on Github.