A Blackboard System To Assist Telerobotic Task

Abstract

The topic of this paper is on the computer aided teleoperation and, in the long range, on the autonomous robotics. It describes an experimental system the aim of which is to assist a human operator looking after a robotized task. The cooperation of various knowledge sources is visualized on a graphic screen. This screen practically becomes a representation of a blackboard. The blackboard architecture is defined as a globally accessible database which is shared by the knowledge sources and it contains a partial solution at each time of its utilization . Some applications for robotics have been proposed, especially with the scheduling of expert modules: planning module, image analysis, sensory data fusion. In the application we are studying, the database is composed of concurent objects and a partial solution is to be understood as an intermediate state of the task carrying-out. The knowledge sources are attached to the model of the objects they are concerned with. From the teleoperation point of view, the operator can read and write the defined "objects". The objects representing robotics devices and their environment are easy to read and allow him to situate his intervention. It must be emphasized that this view above the execution space is extended with meta-knowledge : the running plan, the function of the current action (execution, monitoring, automatic recovery, natural mode) . To achieve this, an instrumental panel, a window for the plan in progress, and other windows for switching beetween modes (planning, master, slave, emergency) are added to the central scene of the real or simulate task.