Design of a Multimicroprocessor-Based Controller Using a Structured Design Approach

As automatic industrial devices become more and more sophisticated, increasingly complicated problems are involved in their design and testing, especially in systems such as dedicated multimicroprocessor-based controllers. Failure to address the complexities of such systems before the prototype stage can result in exceedingly lengthy redesigns and frustrating, if not impossible, preproduction testing. A structured approach to both the design and testing of a complex robotic controller has been used to decompose the design/test task into manageable subtasks. Applying the approach to a legged locomotion case study has demonstrated that the structured method helps to anticipate design and testing problems by shifting effort toward the initial stages.