A mechatronics test-bed for embedded distributed real-time control systems

• A testbed has been developed to be used for research in distributed real-time control systems.The testbed is modular both in mechanics and in control system, allowing a number of robot configurations,control system structures and execution strategies to be implemented and evaluated. The nodes of thecontrol system are currently based on a microprocessor, CAN communication, interfaces to analog anddigital I/O, and motor drive units. The modularity of the nodes allows changes of I/O and communicationsystem, as well as the implementation of different resource structures. To give an idea of the experimentalcapabilities of the testbed, initial experiments in the area of time-varying control systems are described.The research goals include design and experimental evaluation of execution strategies, time-varying controlsystems and development tools for real-time implementation support.

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