Here is the sad news: That is what ROS should be but isn't.
I'm constantly wondering why the heck I would need a framework designed for distributed IPC, if I can't run ROS on my motor controllers and have ROS manage the CAN bus messaging? You'd think that I2C, SPI, CAN, LIN, etc would be the standard protocols between nodes, but nope, it's some TCP or ethernet based DDS, which is both swappable, but yet that swapping buys you nothing.
Modeling every micro controller and even the peripherals the micro controllers are connected to as nodes in a distributed system sounds like an amazingly useful concept that would be worth years of investment, but the ROS guys seem to stay very clear of anything that could be of use to someone.
I started considering this for my own project, but it leads to tying together transport and serialization in ways that require much harder thinking about.
I'm constantly wondering why the heck I would need a framework designed for distributed IPC, if I can't run ROS on my motor controllers and have ROS manage the CAN bus messaging? You'd think that I2C, SPI, CAN, LIN, etc would be the standard protocols between nodes, but nope, it's some TCP or ethernet based DDS, which is both swappable, but yet that swapping buys you nothing.
Modeling every micro controller and even the peripherals the micro controllers are connected to as nodes in a distributed system sounds like an amazingly useful concept that would be worth years of investment, but the ROS guys seem to stay very clear of anything that could be of use to someone.