1. How to program robot hardware Sascha Lange salange@uos.de Why care about?

2. Common Problems one has to cope with Different µControllers 8/16/12 bit architectures Address space Command sets Firmware / bootstrap- loaders Operating systems Proprietary programming languages Logo, c-control basic, … Standardized programming languages Reduced/modified command sets Java, nqc Communication Programming serial/parallel ports, (Radio) LAN Protocols Packet layout Data encoding Checksums Collision detection Peer2Peer / Client- Server Interfacing Input / Output AD, DA, analog, digital, integrating, differentiating, IO-bus

3. How to handle the “hardware problem” Use standard techniques of abstraction Don’t forget everything you’ve learned about good software design: Modules / Layers / Communication Defining and implementing interfaces Use operating system independent techniques

4. Client - Server Architecture Brain is in the client (Russell and Norvig like agent) Client depends only on language of server Independent of hardware Independent of used operating system / software Independent of communication channel Free choice of the programming language Server Client Receives: s(i) Sends: action a Receives: sensor input Sends: motor control Client has only to know about a small part of the server: - Used protocol - Language

5. Server changes with hardware Transmission layer: Control / initialisation of a port Line control (RX, TX, Select etc.) Bi- / unidirectional Communication Control Layer Translation Layer Data Coding LayerTransportation Layer Protocol Layer Transmission Layer Robot SideClient Side UDP Socket Implementation Client Serial Line: RxD, TxD: - TTL Pegel (0/5V) - convert for RS232 - radio transmit via BIM2 Use KEPHERA’s Mode 5 or 1 Communication via infrared light: - same protocol as REDRUM - send bytecodes directly - use SPIRIT OCX, - networking for LegOS under ongoing development

6. Transparency Client Sensory Server Action Server Simulation Server Monolithic RF Server