| name | rdk-source-map |
| description | Map and disambiguate repositories in the D-Robotics GitHub org (226 public / 327 total incl. private) — tell the user what a repo is, which layer it belongs to, which board it targets, which repo to use for a task, and how to build an RDK OS image or TROS workspace from source. Use whenever the user sees a D-Robotics repo and doesn't know what it does, can't tell hobot- (hyphen, BSP) from hobot_ (underscore, ROS2 app), asks "which repo do I clone for X", or wants the repo/manifest/rdk-gen/vcstool source-build flow. 触发词:这个仓库是干嘛的、属于哪一层、对应哪块板、该 clone 哪个仓、hobot- 和 hobot_ 区别、连字符 下划线、rdk-gen、manifest、repo sync、vcstool、ros2.repos、从源码构建镜像、定制内核、编译 TROS、x5-rdk-gen、s100-rdk-gen。Routing — finding a doc-site chapter → rdk-doc-finder; running a ready-made model on-board → rdk-model-zoo; ROS node usage → rdk-ros; embodied/LLM deployment → rdk-embodied-lerobot / rdk-llm-deployment. |
D-Robotics GitHub Org Repo Map
Help a user who is staring at the D-Robotics org (226 public repos, 327 total including private) and cannot tell which repo is which. This skill answers four questions: what is this repo, what layer/board does it belong to, which repo should I use for my task, and how do I build an image/workspace from source. The single most important rule: hobot- (hyphen) and hobot_ (underscore) are two different systems — get that wrong and every downstream answer is wrong.
Sources: live gh api orgs/D-Robotics/repos metadata (verified 2026-06, 226 public / 327 total) plus the READMEs of rdk-gen, manifest, and robot_dev_config. Repo counts drift as the org evolves — re-run gh api to confirm before quoting an exact number.
The one distinction that matters most: hyphen vs underscore
Verified by name across all public repos (2026-06): ~20 hobot-* (hyphen) vs ~38 hobot_* (underscore). They are NOT stylistic variants of the same thing. (Counts drift — gh api orgs/D-Robotics/repos --paginate --jq '.[].name' | grep -c '^hobot-' to recount.)
| hobot-xxx (hyphen) | hobot_xxx (underscore) |
|---|
| Layer | BSP / system source (goes into the OS image) | TROS / ROS2 application package |
| Examples | hobot-boot, hobot-camera, hobot-multimedia, hobot-bpu-drivers, hobot-dnn (low-level lib) | hobot_dnn (dnn_node), hobot_stereonet, hobot_usb_cam, hobot_llamacpp |
| Assembled by | repo + manifest + *-rdk-gen → system image | vcstool + robot_dev_config/ros2.repos → TROS workspace |
| Language | C / Shell / config | C++ / Python (ROS packages) |
Same name across layers: hobot-dnn (hyphen — the low-level BPU inference library inside the image) is wrapped by hobot_dnn (underscore — the ROS2 dnn_node package). The rule of thumb: upper ROS node (underscore) → lower BSP library (hyphen). When a user says "hobot_dnn vs hobot-dnn," this is the answer.
Three orthogonal axes (apply all three to classify any repo)
- Layer: BSP/system → TROS/ROS2 middleware → application/AI → product/docs.
- Board prefix: see the table below. The bare (no-prefix)
hobot-*/rdk-gen/manifest set targets RDK X3; x5- targets X5.
- Assembly system:
hobot- (hyphen, image) vs hobot_ (underscore, TROS) — the section above.
Board-prefix decision table
| Prefix | Board | BSP/build repos public? |
|---|
| (none) | RDK X3 | ✅ public (rdk-gen, manifest, kernel, uboot, bootloader, hobot-*) |
x5- | RDK X5 | ✅ public (x5-rdk-gen, x5-manifest, x5-kernel, x5-hobot-*) |
s100- | RDK S100 / S100P | ⚠️ private (s100-rdk-gen, s100-bootloader, s100-hobot-* exist but are not publicly browsable; there is no s100-manifest) |
j5- | Journey 5 (征程5, automotive SoC) | ⚠️ private (j5-rdk-gen, j5-manifest, j5-kernel-5.10) |
(no s600- prefix) | RDK S600 | ❌ no s600- BSP repos exist (public or private); only app-layer repos carry S600 support |
Do not tell a user to clone s100-rdk-gen or j5-manifest as if it were public — those prefixed BSP/build repos are private. The board-prefix → board mapping is real and useful for classifying a name, but availability differs.
Same BSP component, one copy per SoC
hobot-multimedia (X3) / x5-hobot-multimedia (X5) / s100-hobot-multimedia (S100) are the same component maintained as three SoC-specific copies. The same holds for camera / dnn / boot / dtb / wifi / io / utils / display / spdev / configs / audio-config. This is the Android/Yocto-style per-chip multi-repo BSP layout.
Two "multi-repo assembly" systems (the key to the whole org)
OS IMAGE BUILD TROS APP BUILD
repo + manifest vcstool + ros2.repos
entry: rdk-gen / x5-rdk-gen entry: robot_dev_config
pulls kernel/uboot/bootloader/hobot-* pulls hobot_* (underscore)
(hyphen) + rcl/rclcpp/rmw…
→ flashable RDK OS image (*.img) → /opt/tros workspace + deb packages
low-level, board-specific upper-level, cross-board (relies on BSP)
Both flows, with exact commands, are in os-image-build.md. Most users never need either — they flash an official image and apt install TROS. Only reach for source-build when customizing the image, kernel, device tree, a new sensor, or compiling all of TROS from source.
Workflow — classify an unknown repo
- Check the suffix/prefix first (cheapest signal):
*_doc/*-doc → docs; nodehub_* → NodeHub deb packaging; tros_* → TROS tooling/orchestration; magicbox_* → MagicBox product; rcl/rclcpp/rmw_*/rosbag2/vision_opencv/isaac_* → upstream ROS2 port (NOT RDK-original).
- Check hyphen vs underscore if it contains
hobot: hyphen → BSP/image; underscore → ROS2 app package.
- Check the board prefix: none → X3,
x5- → X5, s100- → S100/S100P (private), j5- → Journey 5 (private).
- If still unsure, look it up —
gh api repos/D-Robotics/<name> --jq '{lang:.language, desc:.description}', or run scripts/classify_repo.py <name> for a deterministic axis breakdown.
- Route to the task-family table (below) for "which repo do I use."
Task → which repo family (quick lookup)
| I want to… | Go to this repo family |
|---|
| Run a ready-made BPU model | rdk_model_zoo (X3/X5 branches) / rdk_model_zoo_s (S, default branch s100) → skill rdk-model-zoo |
| Use a vision/perception ROS node (detect/stereo/SLAM/calib) | hobot_* underscore + mono*/stereo*/face_*/hand_* → skill rdk-ros |
| On-device LLM/VLM/speech | hobot_llamacpp/hobot_llm/hobot_xlm/hobot_tts/hobot_audio → skill rdk-llm-deployment |
| Embodied / arm / LeRobot / VLA | rdk_LeRobot_tools/lerobot/openpi*/RoboTwin → skill rdk-embodied-lerobot |
| Build/customize an OS image, kernel, driver, add a sensor | *-rdk-gen + *-manifest + kernel/uboot/bootloader + hobot-* (hyphen) |
| Compile all of TROS from source | robot_dev_config (entry) + tros_* |
| Package a TROS app into a deb for the app center | nodehub_* (READMEs mostly reference TROS docs) |
| Read official doc source | rdk_doc (main, 16★) / rdk_x_doc / rdk_s_doc / tros_doc / model_zoo_doc → skill rdk-doc-finder |
The full 12-family map with representative repo lists is in repo-families.md.
Worked examples
Example 1 — "hobot-dnn 和 hobot_dnn 有什么区别?哪个是我要的?"
They are different layers. hobot-dnn (hyphen) is the low-level BPU inference library that goes into the OS image (BSP). hobot_dnn (underscore) is the ROS2 package (dnn_node) that wraps it for use as a node. If you're writing a ROS2 perception node, you want the underscore one; if you're rebuilding the system image or debugging the BPU library, the hyphen one. Rule: upper ROS node (underscore) → lower BSP lib (hyphen).
Example 2 — "我想从源码构建 S100 的系统镜像,该 clone s100-rdk-gen 吗?"
The s100-rdk-gen / s100-bootloader / s100-hobot-* repos exist but are private — you can't clone them anonymously. Public source-build is available for X3 (rdk-gen + manifest) and X5 (x5-rdk-gen + x5-manifest); the flow is repo init -u …/manifest.git -b main → repo sync → ./pack_image.sh. For S100 image building, use the official prebuilt image instead, or request access. See os-image-build.md.
Example 3 — "组织里 rcl、rclcpp、rmw_cyclonedds 这些是 RDK 自己写的吗?"
No. Those are upstream ROS2 repos ported/mirrored into the org for the TROS cross-compile (pulled by vcstool via ros2.repos), not RDK-original algorithms. When one of them misbehaves, check upstream ROS2 behavior first before assuming an RDK change. Same for rosbag2/vision_opencv/isaac_*.
Example 4 — "我要跑一个现成的 YOLO,该去哪个仓?S 系列的板呢?"
Don't clone a BSP repo. For ready-made models use rdk_model_zoo (pick the branch matching your board — rdk_x3, rdk_x5, or a s600 feature branch) and for S-series use rdk_model_zoo_s (default branch s100). Then hand off to skill rdk-model-zoo for the actual run-on-board steps. The nodehub-x5-rdkmodelzoo-samples repo packages some of these as installable NodeHub apps.
Common pitfalls
| ❌ Don't | ✅ Do |
|---|
Treat hobot-dnn and hobot_dnn as the same repo | Hyphen = BSP image lib; underscore = ROS2 package |
Tell the user to clone s100-rdk-gen / j5-manifest | Those BSP/build repos are private; only X3 & X5 source-build is public |
Invent an s600- prefix or s600-rdk-gen repo | No s600- BSP repos exist; S600 support lives in app-layer repos only |
Assume rcl/rclcpp/isaac_* are RDK-original | They are upstream ROS2 ports; debug against upstream first |
| Quote an exact repo count as fixed | Counts drift — re-run gh api orgs/D-Robotics/repos to confirm |
| Send a "run a model" user into a BSP/manifest repo | Route to rdk_model_zoo / skill rdk-model-zoo |
Reference map
| Read this | When |
|---|
| repo-families.md | Need the full 12-family classification, the naming-convention cheat table, or a representative repo list for a family |
| os-image-build.md | User wants the actual source-build commands — repo/manifest/*-rdk-gen for the OS image, or vcstool/robot_dev_config for TROS |
scripts/classify_repo.py | Deterministic axis breakdown for a single repo name (layer / board / assembly system) without reciting from memory |
