Proposed Technique for Data Security with the AES Algorithm in Robot Operating System (ROS)

Currently, the Robot Operating System (ROS), is extensively used in various fields such as education, research, commercial and industry. This is due to the fact that ROS offers a range of packages that handle communication and hardware operation. However, it is widely known that ROS's security is still not robust. Transitioning from ROS to ROS2, which has enhanced security, might be somewhat challenging because some tasks might be in actual use in the industry or ongoing research projects. The issue of data security is also of paramount importance. There are currently various methods to hack into systems or intercept data in computer networks. After studying numerous related research works, we propose an encryption method for transmitted and received data using the AES algorithm, known as Layer-2. This method has been experimented with streaming images of four resolutions: $\mathbf{320}\times \mathbf{240}, \mathbf{640}\times \mathbf{480},\mathbf{1280}\times \mathbf{720}$, and $\mathbf{1920}\times \mathbf{1080}$. By comparing the frame rate and CPU usage during both unencrypted and encrypted streaming, it was found that the software developed according to the concept of this research can stream in an encrypted format at the same frame rate as unencrypted streaming, with an average maximum increase in CPU usage of 19.98% on the publishing side. The encryption concept in this research is designed based on a text-based protocol combined with the function overloading feature of object-oriented programming. This allows for a quick add-on to operating ROS software with minimal modifications. Furthermore, it can be adapted for use with other data transmission methods, such as Publish/Subscribe models like NATS, MQTT, etc.