A framework for creating, coordinating, and executing skills on a humanoid robot

Abstract

This paper presents a new bottom-up framework for programming a humanoid robot which keeps the control systems simple and manageable while still providing a broad variety of possible tasks. Firstly, the framework implies an approach for the creation and execution of skills on a humanoid robot. A skill is a small, specialized, task specific object which contains not only data but also active components like algorithms which are able to interpret and modify the data under the consideration of the changing environment. Secondly, the framework provides an mechanism for the temporal coordination of a humanoid robot. This mechanism uses Petri-nets extended by callback and trigger functions to describe the identified features of coordinated movements. The Petri-net is not only used for modeling but also for the implementation - it describes and executes coordinated movements. The framework provides furthermore a mechanism for the resource management of a humanoid robot which allows the parallel execution of skills and the supervision of their execution. The proposed framework is evaluated in the sample application of a fetch and carry task requiring a coordinated movement of hand, arm and head.