OSCP Releases Open-Source ROS 2 Driver for MK2 Inertial Measurement Units

TORONTO, Sept. 22, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- OSCP, a Montreal-based company that designs and manufactures photonic gyroscopes and inertial measurement units, has released an open-source ROS 2 driver for its MK2 family of inertial measurement units. The driver, published under the MIT license, is available on GitHub and is compatible with ROS 2 Humble and Jazzy.

The driver connects an MK2-family unit to a ROS 2 system over RS-422 or CAN-FD and publishes on standard sensor_msgs topics, allowing the unit to feed into an existing navigation stack without requiring custom parsing. The driver is composed of three packages: the node itself, a library handling COBS decoding and frame definitions, and a set of OSCP message types stamped with the unit's internal clock. Configuration is done through a YAML file, and the node exposes services for querying configuration, stationary bias calibration, zeroing orientation, and applying a magnetometer calibration.

The MK2 family includes the MK2M2, a MEMS unit measuring 40 by 40 by 25 millimeters, weighing 75 grams, and drawing 1.2 watts, and the MK2E2, which replaces the Z-axis MEMS gyroscope with a photonic one while keeping MEMS on the X and Y axes. Both units are compatible with ROS 2 Humble and Jazzy on Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04.

OSCP's founder and CEO, Kazem Zandi, emphasized the importance of clean data integration into existing stacks.

The company's published road test demonstrated the benefits of the photonic option. Over 21 minutes through downtown Montreal, with satellite positioning denied and heading coming from the gyroscope alone on a one-hertz speed input, the MK2E2 finished 5.7 meters from ground truth. An MK2M2, OSCP's MEMS unit, ran the same drive on identical aiding and finished 20.5 meters out. Both units carry the same 0.5 degrees per hour minimum in-run bias on their datasheets. The full write-up, including the route and the error over time, is available on OSCP's website.

Vibration is another factor that the photonic axis addresses. MEMS gyroscopes are g-sensitive, meaning bias error grows under vibration and sustained acceleration, which is the normal working life of a legged platform or a vehicle on rough ground. A photonic gyroscope has no proof mass to shake. OSCP is characterizing the MK2 family under vibration and will publish the results.

For robots that run for hours without a fix, OSCP offers the MK2Z, currently a prototype, which puts a navigation-grade optical gyroscope on the heading axis, achieving a typical 0.005 degrees per hour. This is roughly two orders of magnitude better than the MEMS heading gyroscope in the drive above. The MK2Z is larger and draws more power, at 475 grams and 4.5 watts, but it runs on the same driver and the same interfaces. Mines, tunnels, subsea vehicles, and large indoor sites are where this trade starts to pay off.

Thibaut Gravey, OSCP's vice-president of product, explained the decision to open-source the driver.

The driver was written by Rayan Raad, a robotics engineering intern at OSCP, who will be at booth 29 for the company's participation in ROSCon Global in Toronto, September 22 to 24. OSCP is a silver sponsor of the conference and will be exhibiting at booth 29.