Connect the Raspberry Pi

Set up the edge device

After connecting the control container, you’ll connect a Raspberry Pi to the Zenoh router.

Connect to the Raspberry Pi over SSH or open a terminal on an attached display. Confirm that the operating system is 64-bit:

    

        
        
uname -m

    

The expected output is:

    

        
        aarch64

        
    

Docker keeps ROS 2 and its dependencies separate from the host operating system. Install Docker if it’s not already present:

    

        
        
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sudo sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

    

Log out and log back in so that the new group membership takes effect, then verify Docker:

    

        
        
docker version

    

The client and server sections should both report linux/arm64.

Select an address the Raspberry Pi can reach

The <your_arm_server_ip> that you use must identify the selected Arm server that the Raspberry Pi can reach. It’s not automatically the same address used by your laptop.

Consider the following when selecting an IP address to use:

• Use a private or LAN address when the Raspberry Pi has a route to that network.
• Use a public address only when a private route or VPN is unavailable, and restrict TCP port 7447 to the Raspberry Pi’s address or trusted network using firewall rules.
• Don’t use 172.x. Those are internal Docker addresses.

On the selected Arm server, display the available addresses and select the server’s IP:

    

        
        
hostname -I

    

On the Raspberry Pi, replace <your_arm_server_ip> with your selected IP address and test the Zenoh TCP port:

    

        
        
python3 -c "import socket; socket.create_connection(('<your_arm_server_ip>',7447),5); print('router reachable')"

    

Start the edge container

On the Raspberry Pi, replace <your_arm_server_ip> with your selected IP address and create the edge container:

    

        
        
docker run -d --name pi_edge --net=host \
  -e ZENOH_CONFIG_OVERRIDE='mode="client";connect/endpoints=["tcp/<server_ip>:7447"]' \
  odinlmshen/ros2-zenoh-arm:jazzy-edge \
  sleep infinity

    

--net=host gives the container direct access to the Raspberry Pi’s network interfaces. The configuration override makes every rmw_zenoh session in the container connect to the server router as a client.

First, get the container ID for the control container. From an SSH session on the Arm server, run:

    

        
        
docker ps

    

The output is similar to:

    

        
        CONTAINER ID   IMAGE                                  COMMAND                  CREATED      STATUS      PORTS     NAMES
c0b8da0d49d4   odinlmshen/ros2-zenoh-arm:jazzy-edge   "/ros_entrypoint.sh …"   4 days ago   Up 4 days             pi_edge

        
    

Use the container ID to open a bash shell in the running container on your Raspberry Pi:

    

        
        
docker exec -it c0b8da0d49d4 /bin/bash

    

Next, load ROS 2 in the bash shell:

    

        
        
source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash

    

Confirm the middleware and endpoint:

    

        
        
echo $RMW_IMPLEMENTATION
echo $ZENOH_CONFIG_OVERRIDE

    

The output is similar to the following, where <your_arm_server_ip> is the IP address of your selected Arm server:

    

        
        rmw_zenoh_cpp
mode="client";connect/endpoints=["tcp/<your_arm_server_ip>:7447"]

        
    

Run source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash in every new docker exec shell on your Raspberry Pi.

What you’ve accomplished and what’s next

You’ve started the edge container on the Raspberry Pi and configured it as a client of the Zenoh router.

Next, you’ll verify the ROS 2 graph, sensor data, and bidirectional messages across the devices.