WO2017052060A1 - Real-time device control system having hierarchical architecture and real-time robot control system using same - Google Patents

Abstract

A real-time robot control system, according to an embodiment of the present invention, comprises: a first hierarchy comprising one or more devices to be controlled; a second hierarchy comprising a device control module which is for directly controlling the devices on the upper level of the first hierarchy; a third hierarchy comprising shared memory which is connected to the device control module on the upper level of the second hierarchy; a fourth hierarchy comprising one or more agents which are for performing independent processes using the shared memory on the upper level of the third hierarchy; and a fifth hierarchy for controlling the one or more agents in accordance with a user command on the upper level of the fourth hierarchy.

Description

Real-time device control system with hierarchical architecture and real-time robot control system using same

The present invention relates to a real time device control system and a real time robotic system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a real-time device control system having a hierarchical architecture capable of accurate real-time processing, easy development and debugging, and robust hardware, and a real-time robot control system using the same.

Currently, research on robots is being actively conducted in many institutions at home and abroad. Robots can be largely divided into hardware and software, and they are integrated to form a system.

Components of the robot hardware include a driver and a controller for moving the robot joint, a battery and a power controller, a communication module, a sensor, an exoskeleton of the robot, an electronic circuit, and a battery. These different types of elements are combined according to the characteristics of each desired robot to form a robot hardware platform.

Each of these elements will vary in size, appearance, performance, and manufacturer, depending on the design purpose, resulting in an endless variety of robotic hardware platforms. Indeed, there are many different robots around the world. Therefore, research is underway around the world to investigate the performance and function of a common target robot platform and to develop one representative standard robot platform.

In addition, there is a study on the standard robot software that can be used in common, as there is a study on the development of a standard robot platform as described above in hardware. Software to control robotic devices such as drive controllers and sensors belonging to the robot hardware, software to help develop robot motion easily, software to help robots operate by determining the relationship between tasks, software to provide navigation or vision solutions There are various types of software, and the development of standard software is being conducted for the purpose similar to the development of standard hardware.

However, in the development of the standard software, it is difficult to provide a standard solution for solving the common requirements of various developers.

In particular, as a lot of changes are made in hardware, it is not only difficult to collaborate among developers, but also a problem may occur that processes are overlapped by functions or processes developed by several people at the same time. Accordingly, the real-time synchronization is difficult, the stability or robustness of the hardware may be degraded, and the development time also takes a long time.

In addition, in hardware development, there is a problem in that driving performance may be degraded by adding an additional function change in order to maintain compatibility with the standard software.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, in the robot control system that requires real-time, while several independent processes for the same hardware control and processing can coexist, the operation of the robot can be stably controlled accordingly The purpose of the present invention is to provide a real-time device control system having a hierarchical architecture capable of providing robustness and scalability, and a real-time robot control system using the same.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a system, comprising: a first layer including the one or more devices to be controlled; A second layer including a device control module directly controlling the device at an upper end of the first layer; A third layer including a shared memory connected to the device control module at an upper end of the second layer; A fourth layer including one or more agents performing an independent process using the shared memory at an upper end of the third layer; And a fifth layer that controls the one or more agents according to a user command at an upper end of the fourth layer.

In addition, the system according to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the above problems, the real-time robot control system, at least one control target device corresponding to the joint or sensor of the robot; And a control system connected to the at least one controlled device to operate the device, wherein the control system includes a first layer including at least one controlled device and a device directly at an upper layer of the first layer. A second layer including a device control module configured to control a third layer; a third layer including a shared memory connected to the device control module at an upper layer of the second layer; and the shared memory at an upper layer of the third layer. A fourth layer including one or more agents for performing an independent process using; And a fifth layer that controls the one or more agents according to a user command in an upper layer of the fourth layer, to operate the one or more devices using inter-layer communication adjacent to each other.

On the other hand, the method for solving the above problems can be implemented with a program for executing the method on a computer and a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of agents having mutually independent processes and a shared memory in which references generated according to operations of the plurality of agents are stored are provided, and the reference to the hardware device is controlled using the reference. By providing a separate device control module, in a robot control system requiring real-time, while several independent processes for the same hardware control can coexist, the robot operation can be stably controlled accordingly.

Accordingly, according to an embodiment of the present invention, even if each agent is independently developed, it is possible to synthesize and select a reference through a shared memory, thereby reducing the possibility of mutual collision and securing robust real-time. In addition, since agent replacement and real-time debugging are facilitated when an error occurs, collaboration convenience and scalability can be brought.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, by providing a layered architecture between each device, device control module, shared memory and agents, it is possible to maintain a stable and systematic system through a controlled system.

1 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing an entire system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a robot control system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3 to 4 are diagrams for describing a relationship between a shared memory and a system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram for explaining data exchange between a device control module and an agent according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a device control module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation of the robot control system according to another exemplary embodiment.

8 is a diagram illustrating a hierarchical structure and an operating environment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The following merely illustrates the principles of the invention. Therefore, those skilled in the art, although not explicitly described or illustrated herein, can embody the principles of the present invention and invent various devices that fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Furthermore, all conditional terms and embodiments listed herein are in principle clearly intended for the purpose of understanding the concept of the invention and are not to be limited to the specifically listed embodiments and states. Should be.

In addition, it is to be understood that all detailed descriptions, including the principles, aspects, and embodiments of the present invention, as well as listing specific embodiments, are intended to include structural and functional equivalents of these matters. In addition, these equivalents should be understood to include not only equivalents now known, but also equivalents to be developed in the future, that is, all devices invented to perform the same function regardless of structure.

Thus, for example, it should be understood that the block diagrams herein represent a conceptual view of example circuitry embodying the principles of the invention. Similarly, all flowcharts, state transitions, pseudocodes, and the like are understood to represent various processes performed by a computer or processor, whether or not the computer or processor is substantially illustrated on a computer readable medium and whether the computer or processor is clearly shown. Should be.

The functionality of the various elements shown in the figures, including functional blocks represented by a processor or similar concept, can be provided by the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software. When provided by a processor, the functionality may be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor or by a plurality of individual processors, some of which may be shared.

In addition, the explicit use of terms presented in terms of processor, control, or similar concept should not be interpreted exclusively as a citation to hardware capable of running software, and without limitation, ROM for storing digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, software. (ROM), RAM, and non-volatile memory are to be understood to implicitly include. Other hardware for the governor may also be included.

In the claims of this specification, components expressed as means for performing the functions described in the detailed description include all types of software including, for example, a combination of circuit elements or firmware / microcode, etc. that perform the functions. It is intended to include all methods of performing a function which are combined with appropriate circuitry for executing the software to perform the function. The invention, as defined by these claims, is equivalent to what is understood from this specification, as any means capable of providing such functionality, as the functionality provided by the various enumerated means are combined, and in any manner required by the claims. It should be understood that.

The above objects, features, and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, whereby those skilled in the art may easily implement the technical idea of the present invention. There will be. In addition, in describing the present invention, when it is determined that the detailed description of the known technology related to the present invention may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing an entire system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an entire system according to an embodiment of the present invention may include one or more devices 100, a device control module 200, a shared memory 300, one or more agents 400, and a user system 500. Include.

The device 100 may include one or more driving devices that finally perform the operation of the robot control system. The drive device may comprise a hardware device or a software device. The drive device may include, for example, at least one of a joint device, a sensor device including a sensor board, or a simulator device that controls drive for the articulated motor.

In addition, the device 100 may be controlled according to a control signal received from the device control module 200, and may output various data such as sensor data to the device control module 200. In addition, the term device 100 is not limited to hardware, but may be used as a concept including a software driver for driving an actual hardware device. Accordingly, each device 100 may be physically and softwarely connected to the device control module 200.

Each device 100 may form a communication network with the device control module 200. The communication network may form a system network using a controller area network (CAN) protocol for system stability.

For example, each device 100 may be connected to the device control module 200 through one or more CAN communication channels, and receive a message composed of CAN frame data according to a preset control period through the CAN communication channel. Alternatively, a message may be output to the device control module 200. Here, the message may include a motor control reference, an encoder value, a controller state value, a pulse width modulation (PWM) command, a sensor value, or various other setting or output values.

The device control module 200 obtains hardware control data for controlling one or more devices 100 from each reference generated from the plurality of agents 400 and stored in the shared memory, and the hardware control data. And transmits a control signal according to the reference to the one or more devices 100 selected from.

The device control module 200 may always reside on an operating system for controlling the robot control system and may be executed in the background.

The device control module 200 may uniquely directly communicate the device 100 with reference to the shared memory 300, and may transmit a control signal or receive a sensor signal through the communication channel.

For example, the device control module 200 may transfer a reference for controlling the joint device 100 to the joint device 100 or receive necessary sensor information from the sensor device 100.

In addition, the device control module 200 may include a real-time thread created on the operating system. The thread is synchronized with the motion generation operation cycle of the system to enable real time processing. In addition, the device control module 200 may further include a non-real time thread for processing data reading and conversion.

In addition, the plurality of agents 400 may be implemented as independent software modules having independent processes. For example, the agents 400 may each process different motions and perform a process for outputting a reference corresponding thereto. For example, each agent 400 may include a motion agent, a controller agent, a communication agent or a walking agent, a damping agent, and various other agents.

Since the agents 400 are functionally separated from each other, the agents 400 can create and operate respective threads without sharing heap, data, and static memory, and mutually share them. The necessary data for each can be provided to the shared memory 300, thereby allowing organic processing without mutual collision, and facilitates software development and processing.

In particular, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of agents 400 according to the operation of the mutually independent process, the sensor data from the shared memory 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention, each agent 400 Each may refer to hardware abstraction data and user-defined data of the shared memory 300 according to a defined process, and store the reference data generated based on the hardware abstraction data of the shared memory 300.

Here, the user defined data may include shared data for sharing information between the agents 400 and various data for driving other user-definable systems.

In addition, the hardware abstraction data may include abstracted reference, sensor data, motion owner variable, and command data to control the device 100. The device control module 200 may generate a control signal for each device 100 by using the hardware abstraction data and hardware information previously stored in the hardware database 250.

Accordingly, the device control module 200 identifies the control target device 100 using the hardware abstraction data extracted from the shared memory 300, and generates a control signal for the control target devices 100. The control signal according to the reference may be output to the control target device 100.

And, in order to ensure robust real-time, the processing cycle of each agent 400 needs to be shorter than the operation cycle of processing the motion information of the system. Accordingly, the agent 400 generates a reference from the sensor data, the device control module 200 generates and outputs a control signal from the reference through the shared memory 300, and the time for updating the sensor data is It may be included in the first operating period of the system. Thus, the series of operations can all be processed within the first operating period.

Meanwhile, the user system 500 may provide a user interface for controlling and monitoring the agent 400 and the device control module 200. In addition, the user system 500 may include middleware for controlling the agent 400, and may provide various interfaces that may be connected to other external systems.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of a robot control system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3 to 4 are diagrams for describing a relationship between a shared memory and a system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram for explaining data exchange between a device control module and an agent according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the robot control system and the control method of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

Referring to FIG. 2, in the control method of the robot control system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, operations of a plurality of agents 400 having mutually independent processes are first performed (S101).

In operation S103, the device control module 200 obtains hardware abstraction data from a reference stored in the shared memory 300.

In addition, the device control module 200 generates a control signal for hardware control from the hardware abstraction data (S107), and transmits the generated control signal to one or more devices 100 (S109).

Meanwhile, the device control module 200 receives sensor data from the devices 100 corresponding to the sensor (S111), and updates the received sensor data in the shared memory 300 (S113).

In addition, the series of operation steps may be all processed within the first period corresponding to the real-time operation period of the robot control system, thereby ensuring real-time.

For this process, as shown in FIG. 3, each of the agents 400 and the device control module 200 may perform data exchange and transfer processing using the shared memory 300.

According to the operation of each agent 400, the reference corresponding to each device 100 may be stored in the shared memory 300, and the device control module 200 may obtain a reference and use it to output a control signal. .

Such a plurality of agents 400 and the device control module 200 may configure a multi-agent system around the shared memory 300. As a result, each part performing independent work may be separately developed by several developers, or may have an advantageous structure in a robot control system development environment in which they may collaborate.

By using the agent 400 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, developers may use the shared memory 300 while interacting with the computational output of another agent 400 while ensuring a development space independent from the process concurrent development model. Will be able to send and receive.

4, hardware abstraction data and user-defined data may be included on the shared memory 300.

The hardware abstraction data may include sensor data, reference data, motion owner- and command data, and the device control module 200 may access only the hardware abstraction data area of the shared memory 300. .

Accordingly, the device control module 200 accesses the hardware abstraction data area of the shared memory 300 to update sensor data received from the device 100, or obtains updated reference data to control the device 100. You can generate a signal.

Here, the hardware abstraction data may have a data format converted by abstracting detailed data about the robot device control, and the device control module 200 may convert it into an actual hardware control signal and deliver it to the appropriate devices 100. have.

Accordingly, the agent 400 developer or user can facilitate the control without a deep understanding of the hardware. The developer or the user may transfer the abstracted hardware input information as a reference through the shared memory 300, and the device control module 200 may generate a low level control signal for controlling the device 100 from the hardware abstraction data.

In addition, since there may be scalability of hardware and changes and modifications of hardware, the device control module 200 may manage hardware information required to generate the control signal using the hardware database 250 described above. The hardware information may include, for example, a list of devices 100, joint motor information (deceleration ratio, encoder pulse, driver channel number, etc.), a communication protocol, and the like.

The device control module 200 may load the hardware database 250 to determine hardware information of the driving target device 100, thereby generating an optimal control signal for controlling the driving target device 100. can do. In addition, even if there is a change in hardware or using hardware of a new configuration, it is possible to apply only by modifying the hardware database 250, so that it is robust to hardware change and the hardware can provide scalable characteristics.

The hardware abstraction data may include reference data, sensor data, motion owner, and command data.

Here, the reference data may be updated according to the calculation result in each agent 400, and may include a target value in the current step for the device control module 200 to control each device 100. For example, the reference data may include a joint motion reference and a joint controller reference.

In addition, the sensor data may include measurement data that the device control module 200 receives from each device 100. The measurement data may include, for example, state information at a current step including an encoder value of the joint device and sensing data.

The command data may include command information for controlling the device control module 200 and the agent 400 at a higher system level, and may include command target process information and parameter information.

On the other hand, since the data of the other shared memory 300 is a value that is read by the agent 400, there is no confusion, but in the case of reference data, the values output for each agent 400 for the same joint device 100 can be different. In order to eliminate the possibility of collision, the shared memory 300 may include motion owner information.

5, in the data exchange between the device control module 200 and the agent 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention, a relationship between a motion owner and reference data may be described.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the hardware abstraction data area of the shared memory 300 may include a memory area 350 for each agent 400 that can update reference data for each agent 400.

Accordingly, each agent 400 may update its calculated reference in its memory space area.

Here, each agent 400 may calculate and update reference data corresponding to each device 100. For example, when a total of 31 joint devices 100 exist from J1 to J31, a memory space area of each agent 400 may include a reference data area corresponding to each of the joint devices 100. .

In addition, the shared memory 300 may include a motion owner variable for each of the joint devices 100. Therefore, each motion owner variable space may include the same number of motion owner variables as the number of the joint devices 100.

Each motion owner variable may represent one agent having the authority to the joint device 100 among a plurality of preset agents 400. Accordingly, the device control module 200 may determine which agent 400 the control right for the joint device 100 depends on.

In addition, the control right for each joint device 100 may be transferred to another agent 400 or the device control module 200 according to the change of the motion owner variable.

To this end, the device control module 200 may first identify the agent 400 having the control right of the specific joint device 100 from the motion owner variable. The device control module 200 may collect reference data of the identified agent 400, and combine the collected reference data to generate overall reference data for the overall joint device 100.

In addition, the device control module 200 may generate a control signal for each device 100 by using the entire reference data, and may appropriately transmit the signal.

It will read the value of the corresponding joint reference, thereby constructing a reference for the entire joint of the robot, which is composed of only one set, and passing it to the robotic device for driving.

Through such a data exchange method, each joint of the robot can be controlled without collision in different agents 400. For example, if one agent 400 controls lower body joints through an algorithm for stabilizing lower body posture, and the other agent 400 generates a specific task motion of the upper body, the results of the two agents 400 are determined. In total, the whole body task of the robot can be performed. This enables efficient control according to the characteristics of the multi-agent system of the robot.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a device control module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the device control module 200 includes a motion selector 210, a controller signal accumulator 220, a signal combiner 230, and an information handler 240.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the reference data for the joint may include two or more reference signals for joint motion control and detailed control. Accordingly, the agent 400 corresponding to each joint device 100 may generate the two or more reference signals as reference data and store the same in the shared memory 300.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the reference signal may be referred to as a motion reference and a controller reference. The motion reference may include reference data that provides a dominant value for each joint, and the controller reference may include detailed reference data that is added to or subtracted from the motion reference. However, in the embodiment of the present invention, the reference is not limited to the name.

Accordingly, the motion reference output data M1 to Mm and the controller references M1 to Mm may be input to the device control module 200 from the shared memory 300.

In addition, one motion reference may be selected for each joint device 100, but all the controller references may be accumulated and added.

To this end, the motion selector 210 may select motion reference data corresponding to each joint device 100 from the motion reference data based on the motion owner variable information, and output the motion reference data to the signal combiner 230. have. Therefore, one motion reference data may be selected for one joint device 100.

In addition, the controller signal accumulator 220 may accumulate each controller reference data and output the result value to the signal combiner 230 regardless of the motion owner variable.

In addition, the signal combiner 230 may generate the reference data for each final joint device 100 by synthesizing the motion reference data and the controller reference data accumulated result value, and output them to the appropriate target joint devices 100. Can be.

Here, the signal combiner 230 may identify the type of the reference and classify the processing space according to the reference type. To this end, the signal combiner 230 may include a type identifier and a spatial processor.

For example, the reference data may have other types, such as task processing, as well as joint motion, such that a type identifier may identify whether the task type or the joint type is, and the spatial processor may determine each other according to the type. Can provide processing of other data spaces.

As such, by separating the motion reference from the controller reference, functional separation may be enabled in the process of generating the robot motion. For example, if a bipedal motion is generated, a basic walking pattern is generated in one agent 400 to generate a motion reference, a damping controller is designed in another agent 400, and another agent 400 is generated. By designing a controller to catch the vibration in the controller and outputting it to the controller reference, it is very easy to design and develop.

Meanwhile, the information handler 240 may perform a function of synthesizing sensor data collected from the sensor device 100 or other measurement target devices and outputting them to the shared memory 300.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation of the robot control system according to another exemplary embodiment.

In general, when a problem occurs in a real experiment using a robot, the robot must be driven again from the beginning. In the case of a mobile platform, the robot initialization process is simple, but when the initialization is difficult in the articulated system or the ground like a humanoid, and it is necessary to initialize it in the air by using a crane, etc., the entire initialization process is very cumbersome and time consuming. do.

Thus, as shown in Figure 7, the device control module 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention can debug and test the robot again without the process of initializing such a robot.

For this purpose, system initialization is first performed (S201), and a plurality of agents 400 having respective mutually independent processes operate (S202).

Thereafter, when a specific agent having an error exists (S203), the operation of the failed agent is stopped, and the device control module 200 or the other agent 400 changes the motion owner variable to another agent. (S205).

Accordingly, when the user tests the motion algorithm through the agent 400 and a problem is issued, the user simply passes the motion owner to another agent 400 or the device control module 200, and sends a code for the suspended agent 400. Can be modified.

When debugging is completed by compiling the created code (S207), the motion owner variable may be switched back to the original agent 400 (S209).

As such, the developer can continue the experiment after bringing the motion owner. As a result, it can accelerate development, and from the user's point of view, it can be further utilized to continuously observe the robot's joint reference on other special eggs to detect the collision and to switch the robot to the motion owner in case of a collision. It has the effect of allowing you to experiment safely.

8 is a view for explaining the operating environment of the robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in order to use the robot software in general, it is necessary to be able to operate various types of robots, not software that can operate only one robot platform, so that it is extensible and easy to change in robot hardware. It must be adaptable, and not only the actual robot platform but also the robot simulator needs to be controlled by the same software.

Accordingly, the robot control system 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention is capable of utilizing functions of other useful robot middlewares such as a robot operation system (ROS) in the United States or an open platform for robotics services (OPRoS) in Korea. You can build a system. Accordingly, it is possible to provide an environment in which various vision solutions provided by software on a cloud robot system or functions for managing tasks of a robot can be easily applied to the system of the present invention.

To this end, when the agents 400 of the robot control system 1000 generate motion, the device control module 200 controlling the robot devices 100 operates accordingly to provide real-time control of the entire system. Can be. In addition, other robot softwares of higher level may provide connection or determination criteria between motions, or may operate several robots simultaneously.

This may be explained in more detail by the hierarchical architecture of the robot control system 1000 described in FIG. 9.

9 is a diagram showing a hierarchical architecture design of a robot system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In another general external process as described above, the robot control system 1000 processes each data in order to provide an environment in which a plurality of agents or an arbitrary agent are created and operated independently in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Modules may include a layered structure.

Each layered structure may be connected to the robot control system 1000, or may be implemented in software or hardware on a real-time operating system (RTOS) on which the robot control system 1000 is mounted or installed. In addition, the real-time operating system may provide global timer interrupts to the fourth layer and the second layer to synchronize operation cycles between layers.

For example, each agent of the fourth layer may be implemented as a process of the real-time operating system, and may access shared memory, obtain sensor data, and store reference data according to thread operations included in the process. The device control module of the second layer synchronized thereto stores the sensor data of the device in the shared memory and generates the device control signal according to the reference data and the motion owner of the shared memory according to the thread operation on the real-time operating system. Can output to devices.

The robot control system 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention, which can be implemented on a real-time operating system, includes a first layer including one or more controlled devices (joints or sensors) included in a robot platform or a simulator, and the first layer. A second layer including a device control module directly controlling the device at an upper end of the layer, a third layer including a shared memory connected to the device control module at an upper end of the second layer, and the first layer; A fourth layer including one or more agents performing an independent process using the shared memory at an upper end of the third layer; And a fifth layer that controls the one or more agents according to a user command at an upper end of the fourth layer.

Here, each communication protocol may be preset so that the first to fifth layers can communicate only with adjacent layers. Each tier can only access the next tier through the upper or lower tier, and through this controlled system, it can maintain a stabilized and systematic system.

First, each device may be included in the first layer. The devices may include low level robotic devices that are the subjects of substantial control, for example devices of the driver's controller, sensor board or robot simulator.

In the second layer, the Diabis control module 200 may always reside in the background and execute the robot to control the robot. The second layer may be the only layer that can directly control the devices of the robotic system.

For example, the device control module of the second layer may transfer the reference of the joint generated from the shared memory to the robot device, and conversely obtain the value of the sensor from the device. The second layer may be operated by a real time thread generated from a real time operating system (RTOS), and the thread of the second layer may have a period synchronized with a control period of motion generation. If the device is linked with the simulator, the thread of the second layer may operate in synchronization with the simulator's time. The second tier can also have non-real-time threads that can read and interpret instructions, and non-real-time threads can receive and process other instructions in the remaining time of the real-time thread.

Accordingly, the device control module may have a hierarchical architecture residing in the background of the system and transferring control signals for controlling the device from the reference obtained from the shared memory to the first layer.

The third layer may be a shared memory layer, and may include an abstraction data unit and a user-defined data unit of hardware. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the hardware abstraction data unit may include the aforementioned hardware abstraction data, and the type of hardware abstraction data may include sensor data, reference data, a motion owner, and command information. . The device control module of the second layer may be connected only to the shared memory of the third layer.

Meanwhile, the user defined data unit may temporarily or permanently store agent shared data shared among a plurality of agent processes existing in the fourth layer and robot driving data according to user definition.

And, the fourth layer is a layer for driving each agent process for the user of the external process to create their own robot motion, etc., since the agent processes are executed independently of each other in the layer like grape grains, AL). Each agent independently reads sensor data from the shared memory of the third layer, generates a motion, and updates the joint reference of the generated motion in the shared memory.

In addition, the agent processes of the fourth layer may set to the motion owner which eggs have ownership of the reference of the joint.

In addition, each agent can create a very short period of fast real-time threads from the real-time operating system (RTOS), which is used to synchronize the motion generation threads of each agent with the real-time threads of the fourth layer device control module described above. Can be used. For example, a thread generating motion can be synchronized in real time with the device control module by the fast thread, and the operation can be resumed at the same time as the synchronization, and suspended after one reference operation loop. have. This operation may be repeated repeatedly to control the robot control system 1000.

Here, not all agents directly generate the motion of the robot, but there may be an agent that detects a collision and brings the motion owner from another agent to make the robot safe, and may perform ancillary processing to help other agents. In addition, there may also be an agent (agent N in FIG. 9) that is implemented as a communication module (comm. Module) to exchange information with the fifth layer and to control other agencies.

Meanwhile, the fifth layer may include a user interface module that provides a control function corresponding to the agents and a monitoring function for the robot control system 1000.

Accordingly, the fifth layer may include various processes to provide convenience for controlling the robot. For example, the fifth layer may include a GUI (Graphic User Interface) for easily giving a command, monitoring, or a logging program for storing data.

In addition, the fifth layer is an accessible area of an external process, and existing middleware such as ROS and OPRoS may provide one or more interface functions for controlling agents.

In addition, there is another upper robot control system, it is possible to control the lower robot control system 1000 through the fifth layer. Therefore, through the fifth layer, the robot control system 1000 may include a structure that can be infinitely extended, thereby providing a structural possibility to control a hyper multi-agent system. Can be.

On the other hand, the above-described systems and methods according to the present invention can be stored in a computer-readable recording medium produced as a program for execution in a computer, examples of the computer-readable recording medium is ROM, RAM, CD- ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, optical data storage, and the like, and also include those implemented in the form of carrier waves (eg, transmission over the Internet).

The computer readable recording medium can be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. In addition, functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the method can be easily inferred by programmers in the art to which the present invention belongs.

In addition, although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but the technical field to which the invention belongs without departing from the spirit of the invention claimed in the claims. Of course, various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or the prospect of the present invention.

Claims (13)

In the real-time device control system, A first layer including one or more controlled devices; A second layer including a device control module directly controlling the device at an upper end of the first layer; A third layer including a shared memory connected to the device control module at an upper end of the second layer; A fourth layer including one or more agents performing an independent process using the shared memory at an upper end of the third layer; And A fifth layer that controls the one or more agents according to a user command at an upper end of the fourth layer; Real-time device control system with hierarchical architecture. The method of claim 1, And the first to fifth layers communicate only between adjacent layers. The method of claim 1, The device control module of the second layer, A real-time device control system residing in the background of the system and having a hierarchical architecture that conveys a control signal for controlling the device from the reference obtained from the shared memory to the first layer. The method of claim 3, The device control module, A module for generating a real-time thread on the operating system connected with the device control system having a control period synchronized with the one or more agents. Real-time device control system with hierarchical architecture. The method of claim 1, The shared memory A hardware abstraction data unit storing information for operation of the device control module of the second layer; And And a user-defined data unit for storing agent shared data shared between agents of the fourth layer. Real-time device control system with hierarchical architecture. The method of claim 1, Agents of the fourth layer each generate a real-time thread on a real-time operating system connected to the system, and an operation period of the real-time thread is synchronized with the device control module. Real-time device control system with hierarchical architecture. The method of claim 1, The fifth layer includes a user interface module that provides a control and monitoring function corresponding to the agents. Real-time device control system with hierarchical architecture. In the real-time robot control system, At least one controlled device corresponding to a joint or sensor of the robot; And A control system connected to the one or more devices to be controlled to operate the device, The control system A second layer including a first layer including one or more devices to be controlled, a device control module directly controlling the device in an upper layer of the first layer, and controlling the device in an upper layer of the second layer A fourth layer including a third layer including a shared memory connected to a module, and one or more agents performing an independent process using the shared memory in an upper layer of the third layer; And a fifth layer that controls the one or more agents according to a user command in an upper layer of the fourth layer, and operates the one or more devices using inter-layer communication adjacent to each other. The method of claim 8, The device control module of the second layer, A real-time robot control system residing in the background of the system and transferring control signals to the first layer to control the device from a reference obtained from the shared memory. The method of claim 9, The device control module, And a module for generating a real-time thread having a control period synchronized with the one or more agents on an operating system connected with the robot control system. The method of claim 8, The shared memory A hardware abstraction data unit storing information for operation of the device control module of the second layer; And And a user-defined data unit for storing agent shared data shared between agents of the fourth layer. Real time robot control system. The method of claim 8, Agents of the fourth layer each generate a real-time thread on a real-time operating system connected to the system, and an operation period of the real-time thread is synchronized with the device control module. Real time robot control system. The method of claim 8, The fifth layer includes a user interface module that provides a control and monitoring function corresponding to the agents. Real time robot control system.

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