What is an open architecture robot controller?

An Open-architecture Robot Controller applied to Interaction Tasks

“…Usually, the control of several system modules (e.g., unit power and low level control) is proprietary and cannot be modified by user, other levels are considered open (e.g., communication interface and high-level control), i.e., they are based on hardware and software standards with specifications of open interface. In (Pritschow & Altintas, 2001), (Lutz & Sperling, 1997) and (Ford, 1994), the "degree of openness" of a system is defined in agreement with access concept to controller layers, like this, they can be classified in three categories:  Proprietary: That system modality allows the access just to application layer, being therefore, a closed system. In those systems is extremely difficult or impossible the integration of external modules.…”

Integrated architecture for industrial robot programming and control

“…In practice, systems are a mixture of open and closed parts [19]. The open parts can also be open in many ways.…”

“…As currently available industrial robot control systems generally fail to provide the flexible and powerful environment that permits complex task-level programming as well as improved autonomy and intelligence to be added [19], we need an appropriate architecture that provides a framework for robot control. Here we will mainly be considering robots for manufacturing purposes, while keeping more intelligent robots in mind.…”

A component-based architecture for robot control

“…An open architecture is a proposed solution to such a problem, as all aspects of design can be changed (Ford, 1994). Therefore, benefits such as reduced cost and shorter development time could be achieved by using off-the-shelf hardware and software.…”