SBIR Phase I: Development of an innovative software architecture for co-robots and smart devices to augment human capacity with regard to mundane tasking in the service sector

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be to create a user-friendly, universal controlsystem for robots and sensors that for the first time would make it possible for nontechnical serviceindustry professionals to task and control co-robots deployed in their facility. This simplification ofsoftware for an end-user will make systems of robots as easy to control as a single robot. Data collectedover the lifecycle of the robots and sensors (which is currently not done) may aid in identification of newtechnologies to revolutionize system capabilities in the field of robotics. Although this concept could beapplied to a wide array of service sector industries, SRT proposes to efficiently integrate andcooperatively control a fleet of robots and sensors to support custodial service industry tasks, because?though essential?custodial services add no commercial value to an organization. Thus the sector isclamoring for ways to reduce personnel turnover and other costs. In the U.S., custodial services are a $40billion industry; a mere 5% increase in efficiency would result in $2 billion in savings annually. Thissector is rife with robots from disparate manufacturers, yet facility managers need an easy-to-use methodto ?employ? multiple, specialized robots.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a common softwarearchitecture that will serve as a universal receptor for service robotics systems. The predominant technicalhurdle is effectively combining the software protocols and coordinating control of the robots. Therecurrently is no common standard for robotics software systems. The actual robot (the hardware) istypically the primary focus for product developers, while the software is built from a variety ofproprietary, heritage and open sources, and is as unique as the company developing it. Little or noconsideration is given to how robots from different manufacturers could interact in the real world. Bystandardizing the data protocols for robots and smart devices, and making that openly available, SRTintends to drive future open API development for hardware. Standardized APIs will still protect theproprietary components, but will quickly allow for data sharing across multiple devices?facilitatingresearch in robotics, machine learning, and big data?by allowing end-users to quickly integrate multiplecomponents into the same system, and develop their own algorithms to utilize the shared data streams.