Object-oriented robot control framework

Abstract

Object-oriented frameworks are a promising new technology to improve software quality and reduce development costs. In contemporary software development frameworks play an increasingly important role. The subject of our paper is an object-oriented ready-to-use framework for robot control systems. With the robot control framework especially multitasking control systems can be developed. The framework covers robot control functionality like path planning as well as the control of peripheral devices. It supports standard control hardware such as workstations and PCs with standard operating systems. Furthermore the framework provides an interface for the development of new control software such as a numeric control. The robot control framework has a layered architecture. In order to develop a control system only flexible "hot spots" have to be hooked in the framework. Examples for these flexible aspects are the cycle period of the control loop or the kind of connection to the devices. All the other general robot control components are already part of the framework. Hence they are reused.