Performance evaluation of processor architectures for robotics

Several commercially available processor architectures are evaluated with respect to their suitability for the robotic domain. A realistic workload, encompassing all the major computations required for high-performance robot manipulator control, is presented. The C language implementation of the algorithms, developed for evaluation purposes but reflecting an actual robotic system programming scenario, is also discussed. Results achieved by execution of the robotic benchmark suite on a set of advanced microprocessors are contrasted with those of conventional benchmarks, revealing architectural features and performance issues of interest for designers of computer systems targeted to robotic applications