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1. PAAM: A Framework for Coordinated and Priority-Driven Accelerator Management in ROS 2

   https://doi.org/10.1109/RTAS61025.2024.00015  

   Enright, Daniel; Xiang, Yecheng; Choi, Hyunjong; Kim, Hyoseung (May 2024, IEEE)

   This paper proposes a Priority-driven Accelerator Access Management (PAAM) framework for multi-process robotic applications built on top of the Robot Operating System (ROS) 2 middleware platform. The framework addresses the issue of predictable execution of time- and safety-critical callback chains that require hardware accelerators such as GPUs and TPUs. PAAM provides a standalone ROS executor that acts as an accelerator resource server, arbitrating accelerator access requests from all other callbacks at the application layer. This approach enables coordinated and priority-driven accelerator access management in multi-process robotic systems. The framework design is directly applicable to all types of accelerators and enables granular control over how specific chains access accelerators, making it possible to achieve predictable real-time support for accelerators used by safety-critical callback chains without making changes to underlying accelerator device drivers. The paper shows that PAAM also offers a theoretical analysis that can upper bound the worst-case response time of safety-critical callback chains that necessitate accelerator access. This paper also demonstrates that complex robotic systems with extensive accelerator usage that are integrated with PAAM may achieve up to a 91% reduction in end-to-end response time of their critical callback chains. 

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2. Programming and Control of Physical Autonomous Robots via ROS 2

   Ma, Lili; Rosa, Christian; Li, Xiaohai; Wang, Yu; Mendoza, Benito; Zhang, Andy S (October 2024, Journal of computing sciences in colleges)

   This paper describes two exemplary projects on physical ROS-compatible robots (i.e., Turtlebot3 Burger and Waffle PI) for an undergraduate robotics course, aiming to foster students’ problem-solving skills through project-based learning. The context of the study is a senior-level technical elective course in the Department of Computer Engineering Technology at a primarily undergraduate teaching institution. Earlier courses in the CET curriculum have prepared students with programming skills in several commonly used languages, including Python, C/C++, Java, and MATLAB. Students’ proficiency in programming and hands-on skills makes it possible to implement advanced robotic control algorithms in this robotics course, which has a 3-hour companion lab session each week. The Robot Operating System (ROS) is an open-source framework that helps developers build and reuse code between robotic applications. Though mainly used as a research platform, instructors in higher education take action in bringing ROS and its recent release of ROS 2 into their classrooms. Our earlier work controlled a simulated robot via ROS in a virtual environment on the MATLAB-ROS-Gazebo platform. This paper describes its counterparts by utilizing physical ROS-compatible autonomous ground robots on the MATLAB-ROS2-Turtlebot3 platform. The two exemplary projects presented in this paper cover sensing, perception, and control which are essential to any robotic application. Sensing is via the robot’s onboard 2D laser sensor. Perception involves pattern classification and recognition. Control is shown via path planning. We believe the physical MATLAB-ROS2-Turtlebot3 platform will help to enhance robotics education by exposing students to realistic situations. It will also provide opportunities for educators and students to explore AI-facilitated solutions when tackling everyday problems. 

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3. FDM‐Printed CMOS Logic Gates from Flexing Beam Mechanisms for the Control of Soft Robotic Systems

   https://doi.org/10.1002/aisy.202400468  

   Kendre, Savita_Vitthalrao; Aygül, Cem; Page, Calvin_S; Wang, Lehong; Nemitz, Markus_P (November 2024, Advanced Intelligent Systems)

   Fluidic control systems target unique applications where conventional electronics fail. However, current fluidic control systems face challenges in accessible fabrication, reproducibility, and modifiable characteristics such as operating pressure and instability count. Herein, fused deposition‐modeled compliant mechanisms with flexing beams and soft linear actuators for fluid switching and the control of soft robotic systems are introduced. A linear actuator switches a compliant mechanism to cut off airflow through off‐the‐shelf tubing. The modular compliant logic devices can be configured as normally open or normally closed switches, as NOT, AND, and OR gates, and as nonvolatile memory elements. Their use is demonstrated in controlling a fluidic stepper motor, a worm‐like robot, and a fluidic display. These fluidic switches are printable using inexpensive desktop 3D printers, can be reliably reproduced in large quantities, and offer a wide range of modifiable parameters, including scalability, adaptability in operating pressure, and the tunability of instability counts for computational and memory functions. 

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4. RoboCop: A Robust Zero-Day Cyber-Physical Attack Detection Framework for Robots

   Kaur, Upinder; Celik, Z Berkay; Voyles, Richard M (October 2024, 2024 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS))

   Zero-day vulnerabilities pose a significant challenge to robot cyber-physical systems (CPS). Attackers can exploit software vulnerabilities in widely-used robotics software, such as the Robot Operating System (ROS), to manipulate robot behavior, compromising both safety and operational effectiveness. The hidden nature of these vulnerabilities requires strong defense mechanisms to guarantee the safety and dependability of robotic systems. In this paper, we introduce ROBOCOP, a cyber-physical attack detection framework designed to protect robots from zero-day threats. ROBOCOP leverages static software features in the pre-execution analysis along with runtime state monitoring to identify attack patterns and deviations that signal attacks, thus ensuring the robot’s operational integrity. We evaluated ROBOCOP on the F1-tenth autonomous car platform. It achieves a 93% detection accuracy against a variety of zero-day attacks targeting sensors, actuators, and controller logic. Importantly, in on-robot deployments, it identifies attacks in less than 7 seconds with a 12% computational overhead. 

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5. Managing Collaborative Tasks within Heterogeneous Robotic Swarms using Swarm Contracts

   https://doi.org/10.1109/DAPPS55202.2022.00014  

   Mallikarachchi, Sanjaya; Dai, Can; Seneviratne, Oshani; Godage, Isuru (August 2022, IEEE International Conference on Decentralized Applications and Infrastructures (DAPPS))

   The growing number of applications in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) involving different types of robots while maintaining interoperability and trust is an ongoing challenge faced by traditional centralized systems. This paper presents what is, to the best of our knowledge, the first integration of the Robotic Operating System (ROS) with the Ethereum blockchain using physical robots. We implement a specialized smart contract framework called “Swarm Contracts” that rely on blockchain technology in real-world applications for robotic agents with human interaction to perform collaborative tasks while ensuring trust by motivating the agents with incentives using a token economy with a self-governing structure. The use of open-source technologies, including robot hardware platforms such as TurtleBot3, Universal Robot arm, and ROS, enables the ability to connect a wide range of robot types to the framework we propose. Going beyond simulations, we demonstrate the robustness of the proposed system in real-world conditions with actual hardware robots. 

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