Robotics OS Architecture for Modular Autonomous Vehicle Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current robotics and automation technologies lack a comprehensive, general-purpose operating system that can efficiently integrate software and hardware across various applications, leading to increased time and cost for deployment and integration.
Innovation Solution
A general-purpose robotics and automation operating system (GPROS) that provides a standardized platform for integrating robotics and automation applications, offering configurability, componentization, and encapsulation of services, as well as dynamic reconfigurability and plug-and-play capabilities for extensions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a general-purpose robotics operating system is implemented, then integration efficiency and development speed improve, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The GPROS system segments the robotics platform into distinct modular components including hardware abstraction layer, operating system kernel, middleware services, and application framework. Each layer operates independently with well-defined interfaces, enabling efficient integration while managing complexity through hierarchical organization. The segmentation allows developers to work with specific layers without needing to understand the entire system architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The operating system serves as an intermediary layer between the hardware platform and robotics applications. It provides standardized interfaces and abstraction mechanisms that mediate between diverse hardware components and application requirements, improving integration efficiency while hiding underlying system complexity. The OS kernel and driver framework act as intermediaries that manage hardware resources and present unified access points to applications.
2Ease of operation
If standardized platform services are provided, then ease of operation improves, but adaptability to specific applications decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The GPROS platform implements dynamic configuration capabilities that allow the system to adapt its behavior and resources based on specific application requirements. The service discovery and registration mechanisms enable runtime adaptation where applications can dynamically request and configure services. The hardware abstraction layer supports dynamic device registration and configuration, allowing the standardized platform to accommodate diverse application-specific hardware while maintaining ease of operation through uniform interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The operating system provides universal services that can serve multiple different application types through a single standardized interface. The middleware framework includes generic service components such as navigation, perception, and control modules that can be configured and adapted for various robotics applications including autonomous vehicles, mobile robots, and fixed-base systems. This multi-functionality approach maintains ease of operation while achieving broad adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides a general purpose operating system (GPROS) that shows particular usefulness in the robotics and automation fields. The operating system provides individual services and the combination and interconnections of such services using built-in service extensions, built-in completely configurable generic services, and ways to plug in additional service extensions to yield a comprehensive and cohesive framework for developing, configuring, assembling, constructing, deploying, and managing robotics and/or automation applications. The disclosure includes GPROS extensions and features directed to use as an autonomous vehicle operating system. The vehicle controlled by appropriate versions of the GPROS can include unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) applications such as a driverless or self-driving car. The vehicle can likewise or instead include an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) such as a helicopter or drone. In cases, the vehicle can include an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), such as a submarine or other submersible.