Real-Time Software for Mobile Robot Simulation and Experimentation in Cooperative Environments

This paper presents the software being developed at IRI (Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial) for mobile robot autonomous navigation in the context of the european project URUS (Ubiquitous Robots in Urban Settings). In order that a deployed sensor network and robots operating in the environment cooperate in terms of information sharing, main requirements are real-time performance and the integration of information coming from remote machines not onboard the robot. Moreover, the project involves a group of eleven industrial and academic partners, therefore software integration issues are critical. The proposed software framework is based on the YARP middleware and has been tested in real and simulated experiments.