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Substrate integrates with the major frameworks, simulators, and data formats used in robotics and autonomous systems development.

Ecosystem Compatibility

PlatformCategorySupport LevelNotes
PX4AutopilotFullSITL launch, MAVLink telemetry, flight modes, parameter browsing
ArduPilotAutopilotFullCopter, Rover, and Plane SITL variants
GazeboSimulatorFullScene graph streaming, Fuel model browsing, world file selection
ROS 2FrameworkStreamingTopic subscription and visualization via Foxglove WebSocket Bridge
MAVLinkProtocolFullMessage inspector, command dispatch, heartbeat monitoring
MCAPData FormatFullRecord, replay, random-access seek, multi-topic storage
ULogData FormatFullPX4 flight log analysis with synchronized playback and parameters
URDFModel FormatFullRobot description loading and 3D rendering
SDFModel FormatFullGazebo world and model description parsing
MuJoCoSimulatorPlannedPhysics simulation integration (coming soon)
  • Full — First-class integration with dedicated UI panels, streaming, and tooling.
  • Streaming — Data flows into Substrate for visualization and recording, but Substrate does not manage the external system’s lifecycle.
  • Planned — On the roadmap. Not yet available in production builds.

Operating Systems

macOS

macOS 12 (Monterey) and later. Both Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel are supported. Metal is used for GPU rendering.

Windows

Windows 10 (version 1809) and later. Vulkan or DirectX 12 is used for GPU rendering. Docker Desktop is required for simulation features.

Linux

Ubuntu 22.04 and later, or equivalent distributions. Both X11 and Wayland display servers are supported. Vulkan is used for GPU rendering.

Hardware Requirements

ComponentMinimumRecommended
CPU4 cores8+ cores
RAM8 GB16 GB
GPUVulkan 1.1 / Metal 2 capableDiscrete GPU with 2+ GB VRAM
Disk2 GB for Substrate10+ GB (simulation images are 2—4 GB each)
DockerDocker Engine 20.10+Docker Desktop or Engine with BuildKit
Integrated GPUs (Intel UHD, Apple M-series, AMD Radeon integrated) are supported and work well for the code editor and basic 3D viewing. Complex simulation scenes with large point clouds or many entities benefit from a discrete GPU.
Simulation features require Docker. On macOS and Windows, install Docker Desktop. On Linux, install Docker Engine. Substrate will display an error at launch if Docker is not available and simulation features are used.