The Architecture of Robotics Control Software for Heterogeneous Mobile Robots Network

Abstract

This paper dwells on the control software architecture of mobile robots from a programmer's perspective. Several approaches to the construction of such systems were considered in the case of popular systems and the author's own designs. The need for such systems has even become increasingly obvious due to the heterogeneous nature of robotics network. The authors had to work with different types of robots, namely Sensorika AMUR 1-7, Brokk-400 and Festo Robotino XT. Here, heterogeneity refers not only to the network architecture but also to the robots themselves. Particular attention was given to programming theory, organization of a two-level control instruction pipeline, using Turing-complete protocols, and virtualization of input/output ports.