Rapid Prototyping for Mobile Robots Embedded Control Systems [chapter]

Leonimer Flavio de Melo, Jose FernandoMangili, Jose Augusto Coeve Florino
2011 Advanced Applications of Rapid Prototyping Technology in Modern Engineering  
One of the main motivations of this work is to propitiate a virtual environment that facilitates development of archetypes of embedded systems, emphasizing implementation of tools that allow the simulation of kinematic, dynamic and control conditions, with real time monitoring of all important points of the system. In this way, the proposal of a virtual simulator of mobile robotic systems is presented together with techniques of rapid prototyping. The use of the rapid prototyping technique in
more » ... bile robotic systems differs from the traditional target used in mechanics engineering and enters in a new field of research and development for projects of mobile robots mechatronics systems. In this way, the rapid prototyping of these systems is associated not only with the project of the physical system, but mainly with the experimental implementations in the fields of hardware and software of the robotic system. In the context of this work, the rapid prototyping is the technology that allows, in conjunction with a simulation virtual environment, the development of a mobile robots controller project. After tested and validated in the simulator, the control system is programmed in the control onboard memory of the mobile robot. In this way, a economy of time and material are obtained, validating first all the model virtually for later operating the physical implementation of the system. It is fundamental that the architecture of hardware of the considered system be opened and flexible in the way of effecting the necessary modifications for system optimization. A proposal of open architecture system was presented in Melo et al. (2005) and summarized in this work. The software of the embedded control system of the mobile robot, in the context of the rapid prototyping, can be elaborated in simulators and have all the parameters tested for adjustments that makes necessary in accordance with the physical system to be implemented, the hardware architecture, the actuators and the sensors. In this way, in the context of this work, the rapid prototyping is then the methodology that allows the creation of a virtual environment of simulation for the project of a controller for mobile robots. After being tested and validated in the simulator, the control system is programmed in the control board memory of the mobile robot. In this way, an economy of time and material are obtained, firstly validating all the model virtually and later operating the physical implementation of the system (Dudek & Jekin, 2000). The choice of DSP TMS320C6474 multicore digital signal processor as main onboard manager device falls into two main factors. First, its great information and instructions processing 13 www.intechopen.com 2 Rapid Prototyping capacity, operating at 1,2 GHz clock frequency and executing up to 10 billion information per seconds in its maximum performance, makes the system sufficiently efficient for implementations of complex software techniques required in the robotic navigation systems. Second because it has one specific MatLab tool box that can be used for its real time programming with hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) techniques, that it is one of the simulation techniques utilized in the rapid prototyping systems for embedded mobile robotic controllers. This new technique of simulation, HIL (previously only available in the aerospace and aeronautical industry), can be used for the development and establishment of parameters of embedded mobile robotic controllers (Ledin, 2001) . The development of control systems for independent mobile robots has appeared as a great challenge for researchers until current days. Different platforms for project of control system for independent mobile robots have being used in diverse research areas. For many years the researchers have been designing control systems that present an intelligent behavior in controlled environments, with ideal situations, but that normally does not keep the same performance in real world. Innumerable systems of control exist to be used in real world, but generally these systems are limited and they do not present an independent or intelligent behavior. For mobile robotics systems, so many possible applications exist, for example in transport, monitoring, inspection, cleanness of houses, space exploration, aid physical deficient, among others (Braunl, 2008) . However, independent mobile robots had not yet caused much impact in domestic or industrial applications, mainly had the lack of a system with robust, trustworthy and flexible control that it would allow these robots operated in dynamic environments, less structuralized, and inhabited by human beings. The development of a mobile robotic model system with open architecture and flexible control, with robust control system, that incorporates the most modern embedded hardware technology and that makes possible the operation of a mobile robotic systems in a real world environment is one of the motivations of this work. The locomotion planning, under some types of restrictions, is a very vast field of research in area of mobile robotics (Graf, 2001) . The basic planning of trajectory for mobile robots imply the determination of a way in space-C (configuration space) between an initial configuration of robot and a final configuration, in such a way that robot does not collide with no obstacle in the environment, and that the planned movement is consistent with kinematic restrictions of the vehicle (Beeson et al., 2007) . In this context, one of the boarded points in this work was development of a trajectory calculator for mobile robots. • Supervisory control level: This represents a high level of control. In this level it was possible to carry out the supervision of one or more mobile robots, through the execution of global control strategies. 227 Rapid Prototyping for Mobile Robots Embedded Control Systems www.intechopen.com Rapid Prototyping for Mobile Robots Embedded Control Systems 7 an interface PCMCIA, because this interface is easily accessible on the market, and being a well adapted for applications in mobile robots, due to low consumption, little weight, small dimensions, high storage capacity and good immunity to mechanical vibrations. • RF beacons communication block: It allowed the establishment of a bi-directional radio link for beacons data communication. The objective, at the first moment, is establish communication with all beacons in the environment, not at same time, but one by one, recognizing the number of active beacons and their respective codes. At second moment, this RF communication block sends a determinate code and receive back the same code, transmitted from respective beacon. The RF ToF is calculated by DSP processor. To implement this block was used a low power UHF data transceiver module BiM-433-40.
doi:10.5772/22030 fatcat:ixgt2iy5ebelfha7ploblhcgjy