Synchronous Robotic Framework

TL;DR

SyROF is a synchronous robotic testbed designed to simplify the development of robotic swarms, providing high-level programming, synchronization, failure detection, and common knowledge sharing to lower entry barriers.

Contribution

The paper introduces SyROF, a novel synchronous robotic framework with unique synchronization and failure detection features that facilitate swarm implementation for educational purposes.

Findings

Enables fast implementation of robotic swarms

Provides a high-level programming environment for TIOA

Includes mechanisms for synchronization and failure detection

Abstract

We present a synchronous robotic testbed called SyROF that allows fast implementation of robotic swarms. Our main goal is to lower the entry barriers to cooperative-robot systems for undergraduate and graduate students. The testbed provides a high-level programming environment that allows the implementation of Timed Input/Output Automata (TIOA). SyROF offers the following unique characteristics: 1) a transparent mechanism to synchronize robot maneuvers, 2) a membership service with a failure detector, and 3) a transparent service to provide common knowledge in every round. These characteristics are fundamental to simplifying the implementation of robotic swarms. The software is organized in five layers: The lower layer consists of a real-time publish-subscribe system that allows efficient communication between tasks. The next layer is an implementation of a Kalman filter to estimate the position, orientation, and speed of the robot. The third layer consists of a synchronizer that synchronously executes the robot maneuvers, provides common knowledge to all the active participants, and handles failures. The fifth layer consists of the programming environment.