Robot Control using the 3-Dimensional Processor

Abstract

Today's robots can only perform simple tasks because their control systems have limiting computational capabilities. These control systems are unable to meet the real-time demands of currently existing advanced robot control algorithms. Such algorithms would improve the capabilities and performance of robots. However, they are very numerically intensive. A seond generation processor - the 3-Dimensional Processor (3DP) - has the power to satisfy these computational requirements. A unique architecture, specifically targetted to robot control, exploits the intrinsic structure of robotic algorithms with parallel processing. This paper describes the 3DP architecture and its programming environment, and demonstrates how the 3DP can be applied to robot control.