Multi-Layer Architecture of Ubiquitous Robot System for Integrated Services

Abstract

Ubiquitous robot consists of various software and hardware platforms with various functions with different interfaces. In practical sense, it is impossible for software agents to hold all information related to other sensors or mobile robots. This makes it difficult to develop software agents and, at the same time, implement both modularity and scalability for the entire system. This paper proposes a novel multi-layer architecture to address the problems of interoperability between different hardware and software platforms in an ubiquitous environment offering services to the user regardless of space or time constraints. The proposed architecture is composed of five layers, which are classified according to device and environment independency, for modularity, scalability and interoperability between different hardware and software platforms. To show the general feasibility of the proposed architecture, this paper presents case studies in a simplified environment by computer simulation and experiments.