HARDWARE ARCHITECTURE OF A DISTRIBUTED CONTROL SYSTEM FOR A ROBOTIC PLATFORM IN THE ROS2 ECOSYSTEM
Keywords:
distributed architecture, hardware platform, ROS2, micro-ROS, microcontroller, odometry, robotic systemAbstract
Modern mobile robotic platforms require reliable control systems capable of processing sensory data and generating commands in real time without performance loss. The use of centralized computing architectures often leads to resource contention between high-level processes and critical drive control tasks. The objective of the study is the design and hardware implementation of a decentralized computing architecture for a differential drive robotic platform. The proposed system is based on a strict hierarchical distribution of computations across three levels. The Odroid M1S microcomputer (upper level) provides general node coordination within the ROS2 ecosystem. Two ESP32 controllers (middle level) are responsible for generating PWM signals for brushless DC (BLDC) motors and processing IMU and GPS data, integrating into the overall network via a micro-ROS bridge. The Arduino Uno microcontroller (lower level) isolatedly executes hard real-time tasks-continuous odometry collection from Hall sensors via hardware interrupts. Communication between levels is implemented through UDP and UART transport protocols using COBS encoding. The developed prototype confirms that the physical separation of tasks eliminates control signal transmission delays, minimizes the risk of cumulative localization errors, and improves the overall fault tolerance of the robot's control system.
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