Scheduling blackboards for interactive robots

Abstract

An increase in systems integration for example in humanoid robotics and intelligent environments, has called for better solutions to support multi-module integration. Blackboards can simplify construction of systems with large numbers of fine-grained interactions. In this paper we describe the use of scheduling blackboard used for developing interactive robots. Our blackboards, called whiteboards, both simplified and extend the blackboard model in a number of significant ways. Chief among their features are: an explicit temporal model; quality of service; publish-subscribe; queries; discrete messaging; streaming data; programming language independence; as well as a number of solutions to practical issues for improving development effort and runtime performance. Whiteboards present a compelling case for the use of scheduling blackboards in robotics, where multiple functionalities and modules need to be integrated into a coherent whole.