Title: Flexible and continuous execution of real-time critical robotic tasks

Authors: Michael Vistein; Andreas Angerer; Alwin Hoffmann; Andreas Schierl; Wolfgang Reif

Addresses: Institute for Software and Systems Engineering, Augsburg University, Universitätsstraße 6a, 86135 Augsburg, Germany ' Institute for Software and Systems Engineering, Augsburg University, Universitätsstraße 6a, 86135 Augsburg, Germany ' Institute for Software and Systems Engineering, Augsburg University, Universitätsstraße 6a, 86135 Augsburg, Germany ' Institute for Software and Systems Engineering, Augsburg University, Universitätsstraße 6a, 86135 Augsburg, Germany ' Institute for Software and Systems Engineering, Augsburg University, Universitätsstraße 6a, 86135 Augsburg, Germany

Abstract: Today, industrial robots are usually programmed using specialised programming languages, different for every robot manufacturer. These languages provide good usability, because they are tailored to the functionality traditionally offered by robots. However, these languages are reaching their limits with the growing integration of sensors or multiple robot systems. Therefore, we propose an architecture based on the separation of application control and the execution of real-time robotic tasks. This article describes a flexible and extensible interface for the specification and continuous execution of robotic tasks.

Keywords: robot programming; real-time tasks; object-oriented programming; OOP; task scheduling; industrial robots; dataflow language; robotic tasks; flexibility; critical tasks; sensor integration; multiple robots; multi-robot systems; robot control; application control; task execution; continuous execution.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMA.2014.059773

International Journal of Mechatronics and Automation, 2014 Vol.4 No.1, pp.27 - 38

Received: 20 Oct 2012
Accepted: 12 Nov 2013
Published online: 17 Jun 2014 *

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