HCDF

Hardware Configuration Descriptive Format

The first robot description format for cyber-physical systems

Version 1.0.0

Physical Structure

Joints, sensors, motors, geometry, kinematics, transmissions, materials, and collision models. Everything URDF does, plus inertial parameters, sensor noise models, motor curves, and propeller specs.

Cyber Infrastructure

TSN networking with gPTP, Qbv schedules, MACsec, 802.3dm daisy-chains, EtherCAT, CAN-FD buses, power distribution, and device discovery. Describe the network that controls the robot, not just the robot itself.

Agent-Ready

Stream profiles for deterministic traffic, YANG integration for network management, XSD validation, extension mechanism for ROS 2, Gazebo, and vendor-specific data. Built for AI agents to read, reason about, and configure.

Verified Hardware Distribution

Hardware vendors publish HCDF components describing their boards, complete with ports, sensors, firmware identity, and 3D models. Every file is SHA256-verified for integrity.

<!-- Vendor-provided component: describes the board's capabilities -->
<comp name="optical-flow" role="sensor">
  <board>mr_mcxn_t1</board>
  <software name="cerebri">
    <version>1.2.3</version>
    <hash>b50403f7f1bfe13c72a7ddc0467f81cfe8c11612...</hash>
    <firmware-manifest-uri>https://firmware.cognipilot.org/mr_mcxn_t1/optical-flow</firmware-manifest-uri>
  </software>
  <visual name="board">
    <model uri="models/d9507e38-optical_flow.glb" sha="d9507e38a1c4..."/>
  </visual>
  ...
</comp>

<!-- System integrator composes vendor components with SHA pinning -->
<include uri="https://hcdf.cognipilot.org/mr_mcxn_t1/optical-flow/optical-flow.hcdf"
         sha="d9507e38..." name="optical-flow-1"/>

SHA hashes enable cache deduplication (same content stored once), integrity verification (detect corrupted downloads), version pinning (specific SHA = specific version), and firmware matching (MCUboot image hash matches HCDF software hash, so an agent verifies the running firmware matches the description).

Learn more: Tools & Ecosystem

Quick Start

Validate an HCDF file against the schema:

python tools/validate.py examples/drone-quadrotor.hcdf

Browse the specification: Core Schema Spec Browser

View examples: Humanoid Mobile Base (2297 lines, 19-device system with 5 networks) | Drone Quadrotor

Specification

147 types, 42 enums. Full schema reference with type hierarchy, attributes, and constraints.

Examples

Complete HCDF files: humanoid mobile base, drone quadrotor, and minimal test. Real-world XML with syntax highlighting.

GitHub Repository

Source code, schema, validator, examples, and design documents. Apache 2.0 license.