Semantic Plug and Play — Self-Descriptive Modular Hardware for Robotic Applications

Abstract

This paper describes the use of semantically annotated data for the expression of sensors and actuators with their properties and capabilities. For this purpose, a plug and play mechanism is presented in order to exchange self-descriptions between several hardware devices and then use the established information for the execution of capabilities. For the combination of different capabilities distributed on multiple hardware devices an architecture is presented to link abstract capabilities. These abstract capabilities are initialized through concrete capabilities of the discovered hardware devices by the plug and play mechanism.

Multipotent Systems: Combining Planning, Self-Organization, and Reconfiguration in Modular Robot Ensembles

“…The estimation of the flight time influences the executability of the capability “fly to position”, so if the estimated trajectory will take too long, the system sends a failure message and a reconfiguration is necessary. A more detailed description of the used sensors, the distributed storage of capabilities and properties, and resource allocation mechanisms can be found in the following three papers: Reference [69] (concrete implementation of a distributed knowledge base with techniques of the semantic web), Reference [70] (matching between requirements and capabilities), and References [47] (resource allocation and estimation of possible configurations with a predefined set of hardware). The generation of reconfiguration suggestions within a distributed knowledge base for an easy usage of our architecture is in scope of future work.…”

“…A detailed description of the full process can be found in Reference [47]. To enable the self-awareness functionalities of agents (e.g., needed for “determine blueprint availability” on capability layer in Figure 5), we designed capabilities as agents within the Jadex Active Components Framework [53] combined with semantically annotated, self-descriptive hardware modules, so-called self-descriptive devices (SDD) [69].…”

“…Following the idea of the administration asset shell [72], every hardware module is connected to a special software adapter, which can be realized on a single-board computer or a microcontroller. We call this adapter a semantic shell [69]. A semantic shell offers its stored capabilities as well as properties over a unified communication interface.…”

“…If an SDD connects to another, their semantic description will be automatically exchanged. The implementation of a vertical prototype is presented in Reference [69] with mechanisms of the semantic web [76].…”

Modeling and Execution of Coordinated Missions in Reconfigurable Robot Ensembles

“…Block definition language provides the possibility to define relevant coordination patterns for those systems, which we call multipotent ensembles [9]. The deduction of abstract tasks using self organizing algorithms for agent missions is covered in Kosak et al [9] and combined capabilities in Eymueller et al [10]. While our previous work [11] focuses on the coordination of whole ensembles, the BDL covers the definition of robot programs, using the robots' sets of capabilities in a generic way.…”