Real-time control architecture using Xenomai for intelligent service robots in USN environments

• Published in: Intelligent service robotics 2009-07, Vol.2 (3), p.139-151
• Main Authors: Choi, Byoung Wook, Shin, Dong Gwan, Park, Jeong Ho, Yi, Soo Yeong, Gerald, Seet
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Artificial Intelligence; Control; Control theory; Controllers; Data collection; Data transmission; Dynamical Systems; Engineering; Feedback loops; Linux; Mechatronics; Nodes; Original Research Paper; Real time; Robot control; Robotics; Robotics and Automation; Robots; Sensors; Service robots; Software; Trajectory control; User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction; Vibration
• ISSN: 1861-2776; 1861-2784
• DOI: 10.1007/s11370-009-0040-0

This paper describes the implementation of a dual-kernel software architecture, based on standard Linux and real-time embedded Linux, for real-time control of service robots in ubiquitous sensor network environments. Mobile robots are used in active service for the assisted living of elderly people, monitoring their mental and physiological data with wireless sensor nodes. The data collected from sensor nodes are routed back to a sink node through multi-hop communication. The moving sink node installed on the main controller of the robot collects data and transmits it to the main controller. To be able to handle emergency situations, the robot needs to satisfy real-time requirements when processing the data collected, and invoking tasks to execute. This paper realizes a multi-hop sensor network and proposes real-time software architecture based on Xenomai. The real-time tasks were implemented, with priority, to rapidly respond to urgent sensor data. In order to validate the deterministic response of the proposed system, the performance measurements for the delay in handling the sensed data transmission and the trajectory control with a feedback loop were evaluated on the non real-time standard Linux.