This robot belongs to.....whom?

At the University of Northumbria they have attempted to consider robotics as a systems problem. This allows a common approach to be taken in the integration of the different academic engineering disciplines and in the definition and solution of the applications problems met by the user. It can be used in both understanding how the robot functions internally and also how it fits as a component within an application. The systems approach is not new yet those who embrace it are few and far between. The academic often considers it vague, incomplete and lacking in detail. The user finds the abstraction takes him too far from his application. The authors have tried to take an approach that can be used intuitively when defining problems and that offers features for subsequent refinement and analysis of the problem. The design approach initially involves the use of system diagrams. These identify clear boundaries for the different problem areas and the interfaces between them. Control systems are then refined using data flow diagrams. Program design is then carried out using Design Structure Diagrams (BS6224). The real time aspects are considered using a task interface diagram. The task interface diagram, developed at Northumbria, incorporates the symbols used to represent real time features in design structure diagrams with the functions sources and sinks of the data flow diagram. Although the control system hardware and software is the principal area of interest to the electrical engineer the link to the system diagram ensures that the mechanical engineer is aware ofthe interfaces required to be supported by his part of the system