Title :
A new distributed real-time controller for robotics applications
Author :
Buhler, M. ; Whitcomb, L. ; Levin, F. ; Koditschek, D.E.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Yale Univ., New Haven, CT, USA
fDate :
Feb. 27 1989-March 3 1989
Abstract :
A description is given of a dual-board real-time distributed control module based on the INMOS T414/T800 transputers. The CPU board provides fast external memory, support for the four 10-MHz serial transputer links including two fiber-optic links, and an I/O expansion connector. The board´s backplane connector is pin-compatible with the INMOS ITEM development system. The plug-in I/O board provides a bidirectional latched 32-bit I/O bus with full handshaking support. Half of this board is allotted to a wire-wrap prototyping area allowing for customization to specific I/O needs. It is asserted that an easily configurable network built from this low-cost modular design should be able to tackle the most demanding real-time control applications, with respect to computation as well as I/O requirements. A description is given of two particular applications presently underway in the Yale Robotics Laboratory.<>
Keywords :
computerised control; controllers; real-time systems; transputers; 10 MHz; I/O expansion connector; INMOS ITEM development system; INMOS T414/T800 transputers; backplane connector; bidirectional latched 32-bit I/O bus; distributed real-time controller; fiber-optic links; robotics applications; Connectors; Control systems; Costs; Distributed control; Manipulators; Nonlinear control systems; Prototypes; Real time systems; Robot control; Service robots;
Conference_Titel :
COMPCON Spring '89. Thirty-Fourth IEEE Computer Society International Conference: Intellectual Leverage, Digest of Papers.
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-8186-1909-0
DOI :
10.1109/CMPCON.1989.301905
