Client-server-based mobile robot control

A control architecture for an autonomous mobile robot usually consists of two components: (1) intelligent control software and (2) an operating system for resource access. From the point of view of a computer scientist, it is desirable to achieve a certain level abstraction from the resource (be it sensor or effector). Here, this is achieved by introducing a client-server framework for realizing abstract resource access and intelligent control. Hardware details are hidden in a middleware layer, which is inserted in between operating system and applications. In this paper, we present the most important features of our client-server approach. The servers decouple hardware and software dependencies. Communication is realized through the use of classes, offering a wide variety of client-server interaction. Event-driven servers and clients lead to quick responses in dynamic environments. Our approach gives reusability, portability, testability, and maintainability through data abstraction. It was successfully applied in our experimental platform ARS.