A Formalism for the Composition of Loosely Coupled Robot Behaviors

We address the problem of controlling large distributed robotic systems such as factories. We introduce tools which help us compose local, hybrid control programs for a class of distributed robotic systems, assuming a palette of controller for individual tasks is already constructed. These tools, which combine backchaining behaviors with Petri Nets, expand on successful work in sequential composition of robot behaviors. We apply these ideas to the design of a robotic bucket brigade and simple, distributed assembly tasks. Comments University of Michigan Technical Report No. CSE-TR-412-99, 1999. NOTE: At the time of publication, author Daniel Koditschek was affiliated with the University of Michigan. Currently, he is a faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. This technical report is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/ese_papers/406