Compliant control and software agents for Internet robotics

Abstract

This paper describes the architectural principles of a distributed agent-based platform for the remote supervision of robotic manipulation tasks. The main contributions of this paper are that the real-time constraints can be encapsulated within the local robotic controller through the methods of compliant control, and that such low-level API is the foundation for distributed applications that are evolvable, survivable, and that can guarantee stability and compliance even in the face of failures and lack of QoS provisioning. We discuss our experience with a prototype implementation and outline future research directions.

Integrated Play-Back, Sensing, and Networked Control

“…6. The ParaDex robot is an Internet-controllable industrial manipulator whose reflex control interface is a scalar linear system (2) in each degree of freedom [1]. ranging from the same campus to overseas.…”

“…(2) is generic across applications because it models parametrically any physical system characterized exactly or approximately by a differential equation. Linear plants have numerous applications [1], [11], [26], [19] and any textbook on control engineering would present hundreds of examples (e.g., [6], [21]). Furthermore, linear systems describe the behavior of hybrid linear systems during each mode of operation, and as such they are a fundamental building block for control paradigms that overcome the limitations of classical control theory [32].…”

“…Disturbances v and w are mostly due to unexpected contact forces. The ParaDex RPC interface was used to remotely control compliant manipulation tasks [1].…”

“…Distributed sense-andrespond systems enable physical actions to take place regardless of distance, with fundamental epistemological and social consequences [8]. Applications include, for example, industrial automation (e.g., [26]), distributed instrumentation (e.g., [1]), unmanned vehicles (e.g., [11]), home robotics (e.g., [19]), distributed virtual environments [13], power distribution [24], and building structure control [30]. Sense-and-respond operates in real physical time and late or missing signals can jeopardize the stability, safety, and performance of the The primary contribution of this paper is an end-to-end algorithm that integrates play-back buffers, sensor sampling, and control.…”

Network awareness and application adaptability

“…Applications range from distributed instrumentation (Al-Hammouri et al 2003) to home robotics (Ngai et al 2002). We have implemented a distributed system to facilitate human-robot remote interaction.…”