A Framework for Remotely Sharing Experimental Environments

Reproducibility is fundamental to robotics research, but access to appropriate hardware is a major limiting factor of reproducing experiments. This limitation usually arises from custom-built solutions without sufficient documentation and, simply, high costs. We propose that the best way to improve reproducibility is by removing barriers to safely sharing hardware. Towards this, we present a framework for making experimental environments remotely accessible. Modern virtualization tools like Linux containers are leveraged to enable reproducible and isolated access. The basic idea is to run user code in a container and transport all inputs and outputs through proxy programs that monitor for unsafe states. This interface is low-level: proxies can operate across serial lines, TCP, UDP, or HTTP connections. Thus, users are not locked into any particular programming library or application-level messaging system. The framework is shown in four case studies: the social robot Misty, the mobile robot Kobuki (base of the popular TurtleBot 2) with a LiDAR, wireless sensor networks, and Autoware.