The HARTU project integrates modern DevOps practices to improve software development efficiency, reliability, and scalability in robotics and AI-driven manufacturing. By combining Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD), Dockerization, and automated code quality control, the project ensures that development processes are streamlined, secure, and maintainable.

Streamlined integration and deployment 

With a self-managed GitLab instance shared across the project, development teams have set up dedicated CI/CD pipelines to automate building, testing, and deploying software components. Every code change is validated and merged into the repository, reducing conflicts and ensuring a smooth workflow. 

To handle these processes securely, the project relies on dedicated GitLab Runner instances, which automatically execute pipeline jobs, from compiling code to generating Docker images. With this setup, software versions are readily available for testing and deployment, even in real prototype environments, simplifying collaboration across teams. 

However, working with ROS2 presents unique challenges, particularly in managing dependencies and runtime configurations. To address these, the HARTU project leverages Docker, taking advantage of its portability and isolation features while optimizing containerized deployments to streamline the development workflow. 

Automated code quality control 

Maintaining high code quality is a key priority for the project. HARTU integrates open-source static analysis tools directly into the CI/CD pipeline to detect and prevent common software issues early in the development process.

• Cppcheck (for C++) and PEP8 (for Python) help identify syntax errors, duplicate code, and complexity issues, improving maintainability and readability.
• GitLab’s Code Quality feature runs these checks automatically, generating reports on coding standard violations, allowing developers to address potential issues before they escalate.

By embedding automated quality control into the development pipeline, HARTU ensures that code remains robust, well-structured, and aligned with industry best practices.

A practical and scalable workflow 

This DevOps-driven approach enhances software reliability while improving collaboration across project partners. A well-structured repository, aligned with the HARTU Reference Architecture and module naming conventions, helps maintain consistency, while standardised workflows and best practices ensure seamless integration and reduce development time.

Through these technologies, HARTU is creating a scalable and standardized DevOps framework for robotics. This approach enhances automation, efficiency, and long-term maintainability in ROS2-based development, supporting the next generation of AI-powered robotic systems.