Component runtime self-adaptation in robotics

Mobile robotic applications have to deal with limited resources and variable execution conditions that must be appropriately managed in order to keep an acceptable system behavior. This requires the implementation of runtime adaptation mechanisms that monitor continuously system state and module the resulting performance as a function of the available resources. As we consider that these adaptation mechanisms should be offered as a facility to robotic application programmers, we have integrated them inside CoolBOT, a component oriented framework for programming robotic systems. CoolBOT contributes to reduce the programming effort, promoting code reuse, while the adaptation scheme allows for more robust applications with an extended range of operation. In this paper we also present a demonstrator that outlines the benefits of using the proposed approach in the development of real robotic applications.