MyRoboPath
ros216 min readUpdated 2026-03-11Advanced

ros2_control Framework: Hardware Interfaces & Differential Controllers

Bridge physical hardware motors to ROS 2 using the standardized ros2_control framework, SystemInterface plugins, and diff_drive_controller.

Alex Rivera
Alex Rivera
Staff Robotics Software Engineer

Key Engineering Takeaways

  • ros2_control abstracts physical hardware away from high-level software, enabling seamless switching between Gazebo simulation and real robot hardware.
  • Implement `read()` and `write()` methods inside your custom `SystemInterface` C++ plugin.
  • The Controller Manager runs at fixed deterministic frequencies (e.g., 100Hz).
Prerequisites
  • C++ pluginlib
  • URDF modeling

The ros2_control Architecture

Instead of writing custom ad-hoc driver nodes for every robot, **ros2_control** provides standard interfaces for position, velocity, and effort control across industrial arms, mobile bases, and quadrupeds.
Tags:#ros2_control#Hardware Interface#Diff Drive#Joint State#Real-Time