TDM: A software framework for elegant and rapid development of autonomous behaviors for humanoid robots

Abstract

Abstract-Through the use of module based software solutions, programming humanoid robots became simple in the sense that detailed knowledge of the underlying software and hardware layers became largely unnecessary. In this paper we argue that the current situation, while being satisfactory for most users, requires improvement for facing situations in which delivery of a complex autonomous behavior is part of the final target. In such case, implementing a dedicated behavior control architecture remains a complex task. In this paper we propose a behavior oriented software framework to be added above the existing modular architecture. This framework is based on centralized integration of sensory data, schematic representation of objects, resource management and intrinsic motivation. It supports code organization, favors code reuse and allows rapid obtention of behaviors that can be easiliy modified or extended. A version of the framework for Aldebaran Nao was developed and tested.

A Systematic Literature Review of Experiments in Socially Assistive Robotics using Humanoid Robots

“…TDM applications consist of a set of behaviors which a robot can perform (such as walk towards an object or greet a person), for each behavior a schema which detects an object in the real world (such as a human or a toy) which activates the behaviors, and a set of score calculators (such as distance to the object) which determine which behaviors take precedence when there are multiple schemes active [28]. Compared to flowchart based approaches, TDM takes over the management of state and sequence.…”

Interoperable multi-agent framework for unmanned aerial/ground vehicles: towards robot autonomy

“…Agent design patterns defining common features allow introduction of new hardware and software components without modifying the architecture [3]. The target-drives-means (TDM), behaviour-based interoperable software framework for humanoid robots, supports flexible behaviours [4]. The hybrid deliberative/reactive architecture (HDRC3) is a distributed architecture for unmanned aircraft systems [9].…”