A modular architecture for intelligent mobile robotic vehicle systems (Q1002402)

The control architecture for autonomous mobile robots is invariably customized, and can vary widely from one implementation to another. The process of converting a driver based vehicle to computer control, or of developing a completely new system can prove to be a slow and expensive process, deriving little from past efforts. Before a robot is able to perform an intervention task, it is necessary for the robot to reach the intervention site. Mobility, can be regarded as an essential task of any intervention. To realize this basic capability a complement of sensors, computation and actuation is necessary. For a given class of task environment, there can be identified a common choice of sensors and computational modules, for a variety of mobile robots. The paper describes an attempt to rationalize the process of designing and implementing a modular intelligent mobile robot vehicle architecture. A consistent architecture was implemented for a range of mobile platforms including the Real World Inc. ATRV-Mini\(^{\text{TM}}\) and ATRV-Jr\(^{\text{TM}}\), the Segway\(^{\text{TM}}\)MRP and the petrol powered ARGO\(^{\text{TM}}\)Vanguard2. At the current stage of development, only land based systems have been addressed, details of the architecture and implementation are presented.