Title
A middleware to integrate robots, simple devices and everyday objects into an ambient ecology
Abstract
The fields of ambient intelligence, distributed robotics and wireless sensor networks are converging toward a common vision, in which ubiquitous sensing and acting devices cooperate to provide useful services in the home. These devices can range from sophisticated mobile robots to simple sensor nodes and even simpler tagged everyday objects. In this vision, a milkbox left on the table after the user has left the home could ask the service of a mobile robot to be placed back in the refrigerator. A missing ingredient to realize this vision is a mechanism that enables the communication and interoperation among such highly heterogeneous entities. In this paper, we propose such a mechanism in the form of a middleware able to integrate robots, tiny devices and augmented everyday objects into one and the same system. The key moves to cope with heterogeneity are: the definition of a tiny, compatible version of the middleware, that can run on small devices; and the concept of object proxy, used to make everyday object accessible within the middleware. We describe the concepts and implementation of our middleware, and show a number of experiments that illustrate its performance.
Year
DOI
Venue
2012
10.1016/j.pmcj.2012.06.003
Pervasive and Mobile Computing
Keywords
Field
DocType
augmented everyday object,ambient intelligence,mobile robot,common vision,wireless sensor network,everyday object,simple device,tiny device,ambient ecology,sophisticated mobile robot,object proxy,simple sensor node,robotics,wireless sensor networks,smart environments,computer science
Middleware,Smart environment,Computer science,Ambient intelligence,Interoperation,Smart objects,Robot,Wireless sensor network,Mobile robot,Distributed computing
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
8
4
1574-1192
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
5
0.40
24
Authors
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Jayedur Rashid1111.18
Mathias Broxvall230125.54
Alessandro Saffiotti32755284.17