Software-Defined Robotics -- Idea & Approach

TL;DR

This paper proposes a hierarchical and stand-alone Software-Defined Robotics framework that enables unified programming and control of diverse robots, enhancing flexibility, reprogramming during runtime, and leveraging cloud and virtualization technologies.

Contribution

It introduces a novel framework for controlling heterogeneous robots with unified commands, supporting dynamic reprogramming and integration with cloud-based and virtualization technologies.

Findings

Framework allows real-time reprogramming of robot groups

Enhances reusability and scalability of robot control code

Leverages cloud computing and virtualization for robotics

Abstract

The methodology of Software-Defined Robotics hierarchical-based and stand-alone framework can be designed and implemented to program and control different sets of robots, regardless of their manufacturers' parameters and specifications, with unified commands and communications. This framework approach will increase the capability of (re)programming a specific group of robots during the runtime without affecting the others as desired in the critical missions and industrial operations, expand the shared bandwidth, enhance the reusability of code, leverage the computational processing power, decrease the unnecessary analyses of vast supplemental electrical components for each robot, as well as get advantages of the most state-of-the-art industrial trends in the cloud-based computing, Virtual Machines (VM), and Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) technologies.