Autonomous mechatronic actuators as a basis for modular intelligent machines

Mechatronic systems and especially intelligent such systems, tend to be complex due the nature of the control problem and due the flexibility of software and its infinite possibilities to change, renew and improve functionality. The proposed concept of autonomous mechatronic actuator modules interconnected to form a distributed system architecture is based upon the observation that complex systems should be built from well understood and dependable components. The idea behind the concept is to provide a computer system which really supports complex control application and modular designs. The proposed control architecture allows advanced and machine specific intelligent control algorithms and provides encapsulated and high performance low level control. The backbone of the architecture is a communication subsystem which meets the real-time demands of advanced machine control systems