Preview coordination: An enhanced execution model for online scheduling of mobile manipulation tasks

Task specification models define the activities to be executed by a robot in order to achieve its goal. Classical examples are the sequences involved in assembly or pick and place tasks. This work introduces the preview coordination execution model, an extension to the traditional way in which the execution of such task specifications is coordinated at runtime. Instead of taking activities one-by-one as defined in the task specification model, preview coordination optimizes the task scheduling based on knowledge about the likelihood that not just the activities required by the current state can be executed, but that also one or more of those related to future states of the system can be activated. An experiment with mobile manipulation tasks illustrates the benefits of preview coordination.

[1]  Olivier Stasse,et al.  A versatile Generalized Inverted Kinematics implementation for collaborative working humanoid robots: The Stack Of Tasks , 2009, ICAR.

[2]  Joris De Schutter,et al.  Reusable hybrid force-velocity controlled motion specifications with executable Domain Specific Languages , 2011, 2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[3]  Friedrich M. Wahl,et al.  Executing assembly tasks specified by manipulation primitive nets , 2005, Adv. Robotics.

[4]  J. C. Marty,et al.  STATECHARTS TO SPECIFY THE CONTROL OF AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS , 1998 .

[5]  Francisco Casacuberta,et al.  Probabilistic finite-state machines - part I , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.

[6]  Ruben Smits.  Robot Skills: Design of a Constraint-Based Methodology and Software Support (Robot vaardigheden: Ontwerp van een beperkingsgebaseerde methodologie en software ondersteuning) , 2010 .

[7]  Steve Cousins,et al.  The SMACH High-Level Executive , 2010 .

[8]  Jonathan Bohren,et al.  The SMACH High-Level Executive [ROS News] , 2010 .

[9]  C.M. Gosselin,et al.  Computationally Efficient Predictive Robot Control , 2007, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[10]  Herman Bruyninckx,et al.  Coordinating Robotic Tasks and Systems with rFSM Statecharts , 2012 .

[11]  Bengt Lennartson,et al.  Modular implementation of discrete event systems as sequential function charts applied to an assembly cell , 2001, Proceedings of the 2001 IEEE International Conference on Control Applications (CCA'01) (Cat. No.01CH37204).

[12]  Moritz Tenorth,et al.  CRAM — A Cognitive Robot Abstract Machine for everyday manipulation in human environments , 2010, 2010 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[13]  François Keith,et al.  Optimization of tasks warping and scheduling for smooth sequencing of robotic actions , 2009, IROS.

[14]  Joris De Schutter,et al.  Specification of force-controlled actions in the "task frame formalism"-a synthesis , 1996, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[15]  Nicolas Mansard,et al.  Task Sequencing for High-Level Sensor-Based Control , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[16]  Joris De Schutter,et al.  iTaSC as a unified framework for task specification, control, and coordination, demonstrated on the PR2 , 2011, IROS 2011.

[17]  Pedro U. Lima,et al.  Robot task plan representation by Petri nets: modelling, identification, analysis and execution , 2012, Auton. Robots.

[18]  Michele Lombardi,et al.  Allocation and scheduling of Conditional Task Graphs , 2010, Artif. Intell..

[19]  M. Vistein,et al.  Instantaneous switching between real-time commands for continuous execution of complex robotic tasks , 2012, 2012 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation.

[20]  Morgan Quigley,et al.  ROS: an open-source Robot Operating System , 2009, ICRA 2009.

[21]  Pierre-Brice Wieber,et al.  Analysis of the discontinuities in prioritized tasks-space control under discreet task scheduling operations , 2011, 2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[22]  Herman Bruyninckx,et al.  Open robot control software: the OROCOS project , 2001, Proceedings 2001 ICRA. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.01CH37164).

[23]  Joris De Schutter,et al.  Constraint-based Task Specification and Estimation for Sensor-Based Robot Systems in the Presence of Geometric Uncertainty , 2007, Int. J. Robotics Res..