The design of distributed robot control system

In the past, most robots used the centralized control mode, in which the power electronics, the motor controllers and the coordinating computer were contained in a central control box. This paper describes the design of a distributed robot control system which consists of the host computer, the controller for each joint and the communication network. The individual controllers are located physically close to the motors that they are controlling, enormously simplifying the wiring harness of the robot down to simple power and network cables. Additionally, the hardware rationale and the control software of the joint controller are elaborated in details.