Smaller and smarter autonomous robotics

摘要

Autonomous and semi-autonomous robotic systems - those systems capable of performing complex tasks without continuous human intervention - are smaller, more capable, and more prevalent than ever. These systems are almost universally mobile, whether aerial, terrestrial, or marine, and require not only a small, light form factor, but one with low power consumption and communications capability. In an effort to balance costs and requirements, roboticists often turn to single-board microcontrollers, such as the popular Arduino. Selecting such a microcontroller, with its requirement for "bare-metal programming," may make sense in some subsystems, but complex behavior is not a realistic possibility without a modern operating system like Linux.