Infrastructure
RAPP helps developers to create and set up their Robotic Applications (RApps)
The RAPP project provides an open-source software platform to support the creation and delivery of Robotic Applications (RApps), which, in turn, are expected to increase the versatility and utility of robots. These applications enable robots to provide physical assistance to people at risk of exclusion, especially the elderly, to function as a companion or to adopt the role of a friendly tutor for people who want to partake in the electronic feast but don’t know where to start.
RAPP has created an Infrastructure for developers of robotic applications, so they can easily build and include machine learning and personalization techniques to their applications.
On the cloud resides the RAPP Improvement Centre (RIC) which can perform a variety of Machine Learning (ML) and Data Mining (DM) tasks, either when requested by a RApp, or as a standalone or offline process. Other than the streamlined services provided by RIC, in the cloud also resides a workspace where specific tasks programmed by the developer of a RApp can be executed. This serves as a high performance computing entity (in comparison to the robot) where computationally expensive processes of a RApp that are not already offered as a service from the RIC can be offloaded.
The overall RAPP architecture is presented on the right. There are two major layers, further divided into subcomponents and specific systems. The two layers are the RAPP platform (located on the cloud infrastructure) and the Robot platform (located at the software level of each robot participating in the RAPP framework). The particular subsystems shown below correspond to the major high-level components that are expected on each layer; the RAPP Store, the RAPP Improvement Centerand the RApp execution workspace (Cloud Agent) on the cloud side, and the Core and Dynamic Agents as well as the Communication Layer on the robot side.
Supporting new robots in the RAPP Ecosystem
It is highly suggested to take a closer look at the following publications that explain in depth the various architectural aspects of the RAPP Ecosystem, and specifically the Core Agents:
► Reconfigurable control architecture for exploratory robots
► Towards an integrated robotics architecture for social inclusion – The RAPP paradigm