MsBot : an open-source plug-and-play distributed robotic framework for education : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Mechatronics at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
| dc.contributor.author | Chow, Siow Lim | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-05-09T20:42:37Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-05-09T20:42:37Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Educational robots are inherently vertically integrated and stand-alone in nature. Despite, by comparison, being cost-effective and easy to use, the vertically integrated robots suffer greatly in terms of technology disagreement amongst manufacturers and limited choices for users. User choices are locked into the manufacturers' resolutions, including product maintenance, updates, etc., resulting in reduced competition among robotic manufacturers. In contrast, horizontally integrated robotics encourages technology openness resulting in interoperability amongst robot manufacturers and empowering users to make the best decision that suits them the most, be it quality, pricing, or both. The fast-paced learning environment and increasingly complex robotic curriculum have prompted the need for resolutions that improve the quality of educational robotic systems, which can improve robotic interoperability by reducing human intervention, enabling easy components replacement and new component construction and testing, leaving teachers and students more time focusing on teaching and studying. One potential solution for robotic interoperability is the plug-and-play (PnP) capability facilitating auto-detection in the presence of a part and auto-configuration of the part accordingly without human intervention. However, the PnP must be compliant with an integrative standard agreeable to robotic manufacturers and communities. A PnP that does not support a de-facto standard is another form of vertical integration. This thesis implements a PnP system that uses CAN-Bus as the transport protocol for connecting micro-ROS clients and agents. This contrasts with usual TCP/UDP transports but gets inspiration from automotive sectors where CAN-Bus is reliably used in almost all modern vehicles. The implemented system is called MsBOT (Massey Robot). MsBOT aims to rectify the weaknesses of the inherent vertically integrated educational robotic systems and aspires to create a PnP framework for the education industry, if not robotic industries, and produce a functional PnP education robot for others to refer to. In MsBOT components, the CAN-Bus is established through the ISR routines and the circular buffers. The MsBOT PnP leverages the open-source Micro-ROS robotics technology that provides the PnP feature of the micro XRCE-DDS agent and the APIs to implement micro XRCE-DDS Clients. The implementation is called MsBOT 2-step piggyback PnP operation, where another PnP feature is built on top of the other PnP. The outcomes of the thesis are: 1) An understanding and identification of the weaknesses and strengths of the currently available educational robotic systems based on a comprehensive literature review on the currently available robotics technologies, 2) Comprehension and matching up the robotics technologies for accomplishing the MsBOT, 3) Identification of the potential robotics technology gaps and outline the research interest for the MsBOT, 4) Development of the MsBOT, 5) Test, verification and reflection, and 6) MsBOT reflection and discussion, and conclusion. | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10179/18218 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | Massey University | en |
| dc.rights | The Author | en |
| dc.subject.anzsrc | 400708 Mechatronics hardware design and architecture | en |
| dc.title | MsBot : an open-source plug-and-play distributed robotic framework for education : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Mechatronics at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |
| massey.contributor.author | Chow, Siow Lim | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Mechatronics | en |
| thesis.degree.level | Masters | en |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Engineering | en |