The convergence of enterprise IT and physical computing is accelerating. As artificial intelligence transitions from purely digital environments into autonomous systems, industrial automation, and smart edge devices, the software foundation behind these systems must be as resilient as the physical machines themselves. To power this next generation of intelligent systems, we’re pleased that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is now supported by Robot Operating System (ROS2) as a tier-1 platform .
As a tier-1 platform for ROS2, the world’s leading enterprise Linux platform brings enterprise-grade security, mission-critical lifecycle stability, and broad hardware enablement directly to the global robotics community. ROS2 provides developers with an open framework for building robotic applications to build, test, and deploy ROS-based applications, while RHEL delivers an enterprise Linux foundation designed around the operational requirements of organizations running critical workloads. ROS2 tier 1 platforms, like RHEL, are considered high priority systems that receive regular testing and bug fixes.
Bringing these two ecosystems together creates a validated path for developers to building ROS2 applications on enterprise-grade infrastructure. This support for RHEL reflects a broader commitment to engage the developer community and advance the openness and collaborative spirit of physical AI, the integration of artificial intelligence into physical machines that perceive and interact with the real world.
Physical AI presents unique infrastructure challenges because autonomous mobile robots, spatial perception models, drones, and other technologies demand precise coordination across operating system kernels, edge chips, hardware accelerators, and communication frameworks. This is where open source can make a difference. As technology ecosystems grow, developers need new technologies to work together within shared frameworks in order to have a common place to build, test, and contribute. Closed, proprietary stacks create fragmented environments that hinder progress.