GitHub - copper-project/copper-rs: 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

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.

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:

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

The generated app has 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 graph), the exact generated process schedule (just sched), post-execution timing from the default Copper log (just sched-log), and replay. Host projects also include just pgs-baseline, just pgs-optimize, just pgs-candidate, and just pgs-measure; the starter schedule.ron is a conservative placeholder to tune for the real workload. Project creation asks whether the target is bare metal/no_std and omits PGS scaffolding for that choice.

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. RobotClock makes time explicit across hardware, simulation, and replay.

What Sets Copper Apart

Time Travel Debugging
Seek through a recording, restore task state, and re-execute your code with recorded inputs and robot time.
Typed Lossless Log Codecs
Choose lossless compression per payload type in the task graph; Copper handles encoding and decoding for recording and replay.
Anytime Computation
Produce a base result, then refine it within time or quality budgets, with refinement steps in the deterministic execution plan.
Live Twinning Telemetry Over Lossy Links
Run selected robot tasks on the ground to reconstruct outputs you never transmitted, while keeping a replayable archive.
First Class Clock Sync With Replay
Synchronize RobotClock to PTP or custom references, track uncertainty, and replay clock corrections.
Profile Guided Scheduling (PGS)
Profile-Guided Scheduling turns measured timings, sensor rates, and deadlines into candidate schedules. Measure, select, and compile one into your runtime.