Structured robotics

摘要

Most research in robotics is directed toward the understanding of cognitive processes. But robotics is also an important technological discipline with pragmatic issues to be answered. This paper is addressed to these issues, and particularly to the basic conflict at the core of studies in integrated systems: while the research task is anticipated to be a long and difficult one, it is also expected to yield some practical results in the near future. The paper considers a design and implementation scheme that provides an answer to this conflict. It introduces a structured approach for the implementation of a virtual robot. This approach provides an invariant structure for a system under continuous development, and a method by which the robot can perform useful tasks during its development. The design is currently being applied to the JPL/ Caltech robot for planetary exploration, and in parallel to long-term studies, it will provide generations of useful serni-autonomous robots.