PYROBOTS, a toolset for robot executive control

Abstract

Presented is PYROBOTS, a new open-source software toolkit for the executive control of complex robotic systems. Borrowing ideas from previous tools like URBI [1], it proposes a lightweight Python framework to develop (preemptive) concurrent and event-based executive controllers. Designed in a bottom-up fashion, out of the need for a practical, unobstrusive tool suitable for rapid prototyping of complex interaction scenarios, PYROBOTS also exposes several simple yet convenient abstractions for physical resources management and pose representation. While middleware-agnostic, it features specific integration with the ROS middleware. Experimental deployments and stress-tests on several robotic platforms (including PR2 and Nao) in dynamic human environments are reported.