Reliability and Maintainability of Modular Robot Systems: A Roadmap for Design

Abstract

As robotic technology is considered for use in extreme environments, such as on-orbit and planetary exploration missions, the availability of the robotic systems become of paramount concern. Availability has two components: Reliability and Maintainability (R and M). Modular robotic systems address the maintainability portion of availability by minimizing repair time and allowing for the optimal reconfiguration of the robotic system for different tasks. The remaining portion availability is the reliability of the modular robotic system. This dissertation presents a review of robotic system reliability technology and develops a technology roadmap outlining future directions for research and technology application that will improve the reliability of modular robotic systems. Also developed and tested is a design index based upon a modular robotic system's hardware and software reliability and the precision of the system