Model-driven behavior specification for robotic teams

Modern model-driven engineering and Agent-Oriented Software Engineering (AOSE) methods are rarely utilized in developing robotic software. In this paper, we show how a Model-Driven AOSE methodology can be used for specifying the behavior of multi-robot teams. Specifically, the Agent Systems Engineering Methodology (ASEME) was used for developing the software that realizes the behavior of a physical robot team competing in the Standard Platform League of the RoboCup competition (the robot soccer world cup). The team consists of four humanoid robots, which play soccer autonomously in real time utilizing the on-board sensing, processing, and actuating capabilities, while communicating and coordinating with each other in order to achieve their common goal of winning the game. Our work focuses on the challenges of coordinating the base functionalities (object recognition, localization, motion skills) within each robot (intra-agent control) and coordinating the activities of the robots towards a desired team behavior (inter-agent control). We discuss the difficulties we faced and present the solutions we gave to a number of practical issues, which, in our view, are inherent in applying any AOSE methodology to robotics. We demonstrate the added value of using an AOSE methodology in the development of robotic systems, as ASEME allowed for a platform-independent team behavior specification, automated a large part of the code generation process, and reduced the total development time.