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The connector framework provides methods to publish various types of data to InOrbit. Both single-robot (Connector) and fleet (FleetConnector) connectors support publishing, with fleet connectors using methods prefixed with publish_robot_* that require a robot_id parameter. Publishing methods are mostly thin wrappers around RobotSession methods from the InOrbit Edge SDK, except for the publish_pose() and publish_map() methods which include additional map handling logic.

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Pose and Map

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Single-Robot Connectors

publish_pose(x: float, y: float, yaw: float, frame_id: str, **kwargs) -> None
Publishes a pose to InOrbit. If the frame_id is different from the last published frame_id, the map metadata is automatically sent via publish_map(). Parameters:
  • x (float): X coordinate
  • y (float): Y coordinate
  • yaw (float): Yaw angle in radians
  • frame_id (str): Frame ID for the pose. If this frame_id exists in the maps configuration, the map will be automatically uploaded
  • **kwargs: Additional arguments for pose publishing
publish_map(frame_id: str, is_update: bool = False) -> None
Manually publish map metadata. Usually called automatically when frame_id changes in publish_pose(). Parameters:
  • frame_id (str): The frame ID of the map (must exist in configuration maps)
  • is_update (bool): Whether this is an update to an existing map

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Fleet Connectors

publish_robot_pose(robot_id: str, x: float, y: float, yaw: float, frame_id: str = None, **kwargs) -> None
Publishes a pose for a specific robot. Automatically updates map when frame_id changes. 
publish_robot_map(robot_id: str, frame_id: str, is_update: bool = False) -> None
Manually publish map metadata for a specific robot.

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Telemetry

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Odometry

Single-Robot: 
publish_odometry(**kwargs) -> None
Fleet: 
publish_robot_odometry(robot_id: str, **kwargs) -> None
Publishes odometry data to InOrbit. Common fields include:
  • linear_speed: Linear velocity
  • angular_speed: Angular velocity
  • linear_acceleration: Linear acceleration
  • angular_acceleration: Angular acceleration

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Key-Value Pairs

Single-Robot: 
publish_key_values(**kwargs) -> None
Fleet: 
publish_robot_key_values(robot_id: str, **kwargs) -> None
Publishes key-value pairs as telemetry data. These can represent any custom robot state or metrics. Example: 
self.publish_key_values(
    battery_level=85.5,
    status="idle",
    current_mission="delivery_1",
    temperature=23.4
)

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System Statistics

Single-Robot: 
publish_system_stats(**kwargs) -> None
Fleet: 
publish_robot_system_stats(robot_id: str, **kwargs) -> None
Publishes system statistics such as CPU, RAM, and disk usage. Example: 
self.publish_system_stats(
    cpu_load_percentage=45.2,
    ram_usage_percentage=62.8,
    hdd_usage_percentage=34.1
)

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Cameras

Cameras are configured in the RobotConfig.cameras field and are automatically registered when the connector connects.

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Camera Configuration

Cameras are configured using CameraConfig from the InOrbit Edge SDK. Each camera in the RobotConfig.cameras list is automatically registered with InOrbit. Example configuration: 
fleet:
  - robot_id: my-robot
    cameras:
      - video_url: "rtsp://camera.example.com/stream"
        camera_id: "front_camera"
      - video_url: "http://camera.example.com/feed"
        camera_id: "back_camera"
Camera feeds are registered automatically during the _connect() phase, so no additional code is needed in your connector implementation.

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Publishing Best Practices

  1. Pose Updates: Publish pose updates regularly in your _execution_loop() method
  2. Map Updates: Maps are automatically updated when the frame_id changes. Ensure all frame_ids used in poses are defined in your configuration
  3. Telemetry Frequency: Use the update_freq configuration to control how often your execution loop runs
  4. Error Handling: Wrap publishing calls in try-except blocks to handle network errors gracefully
  5. Async Operations: Use asyncio.gather() to publish multiple data types concurrently for better performance
Example: 
async def _execution_loop(self) -> None:
    # Fetch data from robot API
    pose_data = await self._get_robot_pose()
    telemetry_data = await self._get_robot_telemetry()
    
    # Publish data
    self.publish_pose(
        pose_data['x'],
        pose_data['y'],
        pose_data['yaw'],
        pose_data['frame_id']
    )
    
    self.publish_key_values(**telemetry_data)