Software architecture for modular self-reconfigurable robots

Abstract

Modular, self-reconfigurable robots show the promise of great versatility, robustness and low cost. However, programming such robots for specific tasks, with hundreds of modules and each of which with multiple actuators and sensors, can be tedious and error-prone. The extreme versatility of the modular systems requires a new paradigm in programming. We present a software architecture for this type of robot, in particular the PolyBot, which has been developed through its third generation. The architecture, based on the properties of the PolyBot electro-mechanical design, features a multi-master/multi-slave structure in a multi-threaded environment, with three layers of communication protocols. The architecture is currently being implemented for Motorola PowerPC using vxWorks.