AUTHOR=Groothuis Stefan S. , Folkertsma Gerrit A. , Stramigioli Stefano 

TITLE=A General Approach to Achieving Stability and Safe Behavior in Distributed Robotic Architectures

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Robotics and AI

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/robotics-and-ai/articles/10.3389/frobt.2018.00108

DOI=10.3389/frobt.2018.00108

ISSN=2296-9144

ABSTRACT=<p>This paper proposes a unified energy-based modeling and energy-aware control paradigm for robotic systems. The paradigm is inspired by the layered and distributed control system of organisms, and uses the fundamental notion of energy in a system and the energy exchange between systems during interaction. A universal framework that models actuated and interacting robotic systems is proposed, which is used as the basis for energy-based and energy-limited control. The proposed controllers act on certain energy budgets to accomplish a desired task, and decrease performance if a budget has been depleted. These budgets ensure that a maximum amount of energy can be used, to ensure passivity and stability of the system. Experiments show the validity of the approach.</p>