Fault tolerant framework and techniques for component-based autonomous robot systems

Due to the benefits of its reusability and productivity, the component-based approach has become the primary technology in service robot software frameworks, such as MRDS (Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio), RTC (Robot Technology Component), ROS (Robot Operating System) and OPRoS (Open Platform for Robotic Services). However, all the existing frameworks are very limited in fault tolerance support, even though the fault tolerance function is crucial for the commercial success of service robots. In this paper, we present a rule-based fault tolerant framework together with widely-used, representative fault tolerance measures. With our observation that most faults in components and applications in service robot systems have common patterns, we equip the framework with the required fault tolerant functions. The system integrators construct fault tolerance applications from non-fault-aware components by declaring fault handling rules in configuration descriptors or/and adding simple helper components, considering the constraints of the components and the operating environment. Much more consistency in system reliability can be obtained with less effort of system developer. Various fault scenarios with a test robot system on the proposed OPRoS fault tolerant framework demonstrate the benefits and effectiveness of the proposed approach.