Embedding robots into the Internet

W ith the explosive growth of embedded computing hardware, it is possible to conceive many new networked robotic applications for diverse domains ranging from urban industrial and environmental disaster search and rescue to house cleaning. Designing reliable software for such systems is a challenging problem. But Internet communication can facilitate such robotics by reducing uncertainty while providing direct user input and assistance; robotics facilitate communication by providing physical mobility at a distance. Here, we explore methods for controlling and coordinating embedded mobile systems, or robots, interacting with other computers over wireless networks in human environments. Ubiquitous embedded computing is here to stay [12]. Information appliances, laptops, palmtops, and wearable computers are examples of the first wave of this emerging information environment. Two factors—Moore’s law [12] and improved network connectivity—have contributed to the phenomenal increase in the number of computers in our physical environment. Researchers now increasingly accept the notion that future appliances (in offices, transportation, homes, and schools) will be based on a multitude of small embedded computers with limited (but growing) functionality and network connections. On their own, they are not physically mobile—an often-ignored characteristic of these appliances. Instead, they will depend on human users for their placement and transport. Our focus here is the class of embedded systems with built-in capacity for autonomous mobility, better known as robots. Introducing these devices into environments built primarily for people raises interesting and challenging questions: