Introduction
Robot software is the coded commands that tell a mechanical device (known as a robot) what tasks to perform and control its actions. Robot software is used to perform tasks and automate tasks to be performed. Programming robots is a non-trivial task. Many software systems and frameworks have been proposed to make programming robots easier.
Some robot software aims at developing intelligent mechanical devices. Though common in science fiction stories, such programs are yet to become common-place in reality and much development is yet required in the field of artificial intelligence before they even begin to approach the science fiction possibilities. Pre-programmed hardware may include feedback loops such that it can interact with its environment, but does not display actual intelligence.
Data flow programming techniques are used by most robot manufacturers, and is based on the concept that when the value of a variable changes, the values of other variables affected should also change. A programming language that incorporates data flow principles is called a data flow language. In addition to numeric processing, data flow languages also incorporate functional concepts. Unlike other programming languages which use imperative programming, data flow programming is modeled as a sequence of functions.
With any programming software, the state of a program at any given time is an important consideration. The state provides an indication of the various conditions at a particular instant. In order to function properly, most programming languages require a significant amount of state information. This information is invisible to the programmer.
Another key concept – which is associated with any type of robot programming, is the concept of run-time. When a program is running, or executing, it is said to be in run-time. The term run-time is also used as a short form when referring to a run-time library, which is a library of code instructions used by a computer language to manage a program written in the language. The term is also used by software developers to specify when errors in a program can occur. A runtime error is an error that happens while the program is executing. For example, if a robot arm was programmed to turn left, and it turned right, then that would be a runtime error.
The software architecture of a system consists of the various software components used to design and operate the software. All programming methods rely on software architecture as a method of organizing a software system since it not only provides communication support but is also a critical component in hardware and software interfaces.
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