> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs-origin.anvil.bot/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs-origin.anvil.bot/reference/technical-reference.md).

# Technical Reference

In-depth technical documentation to make it easier for developers to interact with our systems

## General tips:

* We use ROS2 for the majority of the communications and controls in the Anvil stack
* Use `ros2 topic list` to see a full set of the topics available
* Other `ros2 topic` subcommands can be helpful to understand the nature of some topics (eg. `hz` for message frequency, `echo` for example messages, etc)
* Most Anvil robot setups have one or more "left" or "right" arms present. If a topic / message / concept referenced in this section shows `{left/right}` (or `{l/r}`), that indicates that two such topics / messages / concepts exist, one with `left` (or `l`), and one with `right` (or `r`).
* Feel free to reach out to Anvil support for more technical info on the system's internals