A robust layered control system for a mobile robot

TLDR

The paper introduces a new layered control architecture for mobile robots, designed to enable autonomous navigation and mapping in laboratory office spaces using an onboard arm for simple tasks. The architecture comprises asynchronous modules communicating over low‑bandwidth channels, arranged in layers that can suppress lower‑level outputs while those lower layers continue to operate, allowing progressive competence. The resulting system proved robust and flexible, successfully controlling a mobile robot in unconstrained laboratory and computer‑machine‑room environments.

Abstract

A new architecture for controlling mobile robots is described. Layers of control system are built to let the robot operate at increasing levels of competence. Layers are made up of asynchronous modules that communicate over low-bandwidth channels. Each module is an instance of a fairly simple computational machine. Higher-level layers can subsume the roles of lower levels by suppressing their outputs. However, lower levels continue to function as higher levels are added. The result is a robust and flexible robot control system. The system has been used to control a mobile robot wandering around unconstrained laboratory areas and computer machine rooms. Eventually it is intended to control a robot that wanders the office areas of our laboratory, building maps of its surroundings using an onboard arm to perform simple tasks.