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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESEM.2026.4

Whispers and Watts: An Empirical Study of the Energy Consumption of ROS 2 Topic-Based Communication

Authors: Michel Albonico and Nuno Macedo

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 394, 20th International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM 2026)

Abstract

Background. The Robot Operating System (ROS) is a framework widely adopted for developing robotics applications. Its topic-based communication model allows distributed components to exchange data via message-passing, where suboptimal messaging configuration can lead to performance degradation and resource inefficiency. Aims. This paper aims to investigate the energy consumption for ROS 2 topic-based communication, focusing on messaging configurations commonly used in real-world robotics projects. Method. We systematically mine 112 active ROS 2 GitHub repositories to identify prevalent message types, frequencies, sizes, and number of subscribers. These insights guide the design of a controlled experiment in which we measure the power consumption of ROS 2 nodes across multiple configurations. Results. Analysis reveals that message type and interval significantly affect subscriber-side energy usage, with complex messages also affecting the publisher side. This evidence helps guide the design of energy-aware robotics software based on publish/subscribe communication. Conclusions. ROS 2 topic-based communication design decisions, especially message type and publishing interval, have a substantial impact on energy consumption.

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Michel Albonico and Nuno Macedo. Whispers and Watts: An Empirical Study of the Energy Consumption of ROS 2 Topic-Based Communication. In 20th International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 394, pp. 4:1-4:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{albonico_et_al:LIPIcs.ESEM.2026.4,
  author =	{Albonico, Michel and Macedo, Nuno},
  title =	{{Whispers and Watts: An Empirical Study of the Energy Consumption of ROS 2 Topic-Based Communication}},
  booktitle =	{20th International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM 2026)},
  pages =	{4:1--4:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-450-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{394},
  editor =	{Feldt, Robert and Paasivaara, Maria and Mendez, Daniel and Wagner, Stefan and Bar\'{o}n, Marvin Mu\~{n}oz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESEM.2026.4},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-279723},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESEM.2026.4},
  annote =	{Keywords: ROS 2, Energy Consumption, Topic Communication, GitHub Mining}
}

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Whispers and Watts: An Empirical Study of the Energy Consumption of ROS 2 Topic-Based Communication

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