RobotDSL

Domain-specific languages that compile into working robots

RobotDSL is a family of languages for robot development. One program describes the robot, its world, its behavior and how it is evaluated; a compiler assembles the machine, derives its settings and checks the whole system before anything runs. MobileDSL, for mobile robots, is the first language of the family.

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One shared program

Robot, world, behavior and checks stay connected by name.

Compiler checks

Check assembly and references before generating ROS and Gazebo files.

Agent-assisted design

MobileCopilot finds parts, writes the program and uses compiler feedback.

MobileDSL and its compiler as agentic tools

Robot nav_bot {    intent "A mecanum robot with a lidar and an arm"    Mecanum_four_wheel chassis(ref = "silver")    Mecanum wheel_lf(ref = "red", glue = (0.0976, 0.095, -0.0443, 0, 1, 0))    Mecanum wheel_lb(ref = "red", glue = (-0.1124, 0.095, -0.0443, 0, 1, 0))    Mecanum wheel_rf(ref = "red", glue = (0.0976, -0.095, -0.0443, 0, -1, 0))    Mecanum wheel_rb(ref = "red", glue = (-0.1124, -0.095, -0.0443, 0, -1, 0))    Lidar front_scan(ref = "lidar", glue = (0.11, -0.0001, -0.0043, 0, 0, -1))    Attachment top_arm(ref = "arm", glue = (-0.0073, -0.0001, -0.0043, 0, 0, -1))}

Paper Fig. 1: a red mecanum robot with an arm and a lidar, beside its wheels, chassis, arm and lidar with their mating connectors

Design working robots and environments faster and cheaper

Execution success in simulation

Time per design

API cost per design

Execution success in simulation, MobileDSL vs. ROS/Gazebo files: Codex / gpt-5.6-sol 74% vs. 24% · Codex / gpt-6-astra 82% vs. 40% · Claude Code / claude-opus-4-8 64% vs. 22%.
Time per design: 4.8 vs. 12.2 min · 2.5 vs. 4.2 min · 4.5 vs. 9.5 min.
API cost per design: $0.55 vs. $1.41 · $0.87 vs. $1.29 · $1.49 vs. $2.96.

Deploying the compiled system in the real world

Navigating around corridor obstacles, with onboard RGB and depth on the right.

Course A · 10 s at 2× speed

Course B, run 1 · 14 s at 2× speed

Course B, run 2 · 14 s at 2× speed

Contributing

Discussions

Ask questions, share robot designs and follow announcements.

Studio

Browse the parts library and edit a design in the browser.

Contribute a part

Upload a mesh and its connectors; after review it joins the shared library, credited to you.

Report an issue

Tell us when a generated design looks wrong or the site misbehaves.

Citation

@misc{robotdsl_mobilecopilot,
  title        = {MobileCopilot: A Domain-Specific Language Framework
                  for Agentic Mobile Robot Design},
  author       = {{RobotDSL Team}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://robotdsl.csail.mit.edu/}}
}