Beam Bots

The Insight

ROS Patterns Are OTP Patterns

PubSub, request/response services, lifecycle nodes, parameter systems—ROS2 reinvents what the BEAM already provides. Beam Bots brings robotics to Elixir's battle-tested foundation.

ROS2 Approach

PubSub for inter-node communication

Services for request/response

Actions for long-running tasks

Lifecycle nodes for state management

Parameter system for configuration

Elixir Equivalent

Phoenix.PubSub, Registry, process messaging

GenServer.call/3

Supervised Task with progress messages

GenServer with state transitions

ETS

Built for Production Robotics

Everything you need to build reliable robot systems, powered by OTP supervision and Elixir's expressive syntax.

🧩

Declarative DSL

Define robot topology with code that mirrors physical structure. Links, joints, sensors, and actuators nested as they exist in reality.

🛡

Topology-Based Supervision

Supervision trees mirror your robot's structure for fault isolation. A failing gripper doesn't crash the whole system.

📏

Physical Units

Express measurements naturally with the ~u sigil: ~u(90 degree), ~u(0.5 meter), ~u(10 newton_meter).

📐

Forward Kinematics

Compute link positions using Nx tensors. GPU-accelerated on supported systems for real-time position queries.

📡

Hierarchical PubSub

Subscribe to sensor data by path with type filtering. Get all IMU data from the left arm with a single subscription.

🔄

URDF Export

Export to URDF for visualisation in Gazebo or integration with ROS tools. One definition, multiple ecosystems.

Code That Reads Like a Specification

This pan-tilt camera mount definition shows how Beam Bots' DSL mirrors physical robot structure. The nesting in the code directly reflects the kinematic chain.

Because it's built on Elixir macros, you can metaprogram your robots—use loops to avoid repetition, or write DSL extensions that transform definitions at compile time.

defmodule PanTiltCamera do
  use BB

  topology do
    link :base_link do
      visual do
        cylinder do
          radius ~u(0.03 meter)
          height ~u(0.02 meter)
        end
      end

      joint :pan_joint do
        type :revolute
        origin do
          z ~u(0.015 meter)
        end

        limit do
          lower ~u(-170 degree)
          upper ~u(170 degree)
        end

        link :pan_link do
          joint :tilt_joint do
            type :revolute
            limit do
              lower ~u(-45 degree)
              upper ~u(90 degree)
            end

            link :camera_link
          end
        end
      end
    end
  end
end

Recent Posts

Updates, tutorials, and insights from the Beam Bots project.

12 January 2026

James Harton

Week Five: Tasks Get Orchestrated, Roadmaps Get Transparent

Reactor sagas arrive for task orchestration, the SO-101 hardware lands, Feetech servo support begins, and the proposals repo lets you see what's coming.

09 January 2026

James Harton