Open Robot Control for Services in Construction Theodor Borangiu*, Marco Ceccarelli**, Florin Anton*, Silvia Anton*, Giuseppe Carbone**, Octavian Stocklosa*** *Dept. of Automatic Control and Applied Informatics, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania (Tel: +40 21 4029314; e-mail: theodor.borangiu@ cimr.pub.ro) **LARM, University of Cassino, Cassino (Fr), Italy (e-mail: ceccarelli@unicas.it) *** East Electric, Bucharest, Romania (e-mail: octavian.stocklosa@eastelectric.ro) Abstract: The paper describes open control architecture for a mobile platform with inclination control moving in construction sites and carrying a robotic arm for bricklaying services. The control system for this 12-axis construction robot is open both from the point of view of hardware structure and of basic software and application development, thus allowing rapid deployment automation solutions with service orientation for construction tasks. The navigation and locating of the mobile platform, the motion control of the robotic arm, as well as robot learning and human-robot interaction are embedded in a multi- processor system developed around a NI Motion Control solution for which a structured programming language was developed. The elements of the basic software system design (RTOS, multitasking and operating modes) are described. The parameters for application programs are automatically computed from CAD production data generated in a 3-stage Knowledge Base Technology System (KBTS) from civil engineering projects and data bases for construction materials and building site organization. Keywords: Robot control, Motion control, multiprocessor systems, RTOS, Construction services. 1. INTRODUCTION The nowadays demand on work process in the construction industry is constantly rising to enable competition for quality, reduction of production costs and standardization, the latter being directly related both to fast replication of construction tasks (bricklaying, windows placing, application of mortar on walls, painting, polishing) and to increase work productivity. These objectives, subject to constraints of efficient use of materials, equipment and workers, can be reached by using robots in the most common, monotonous, effort demanding building operations – from which the most representative is bricklaying for wall elevation, Pritschow et al., 1995. Rationalisation efforts in the construction industry are more and more associated with the attempt to create information systems used to automate the building processes. Up to now, automated solutions are developed however in each case for each special building process. The repetition of development errors and the increased training expenditure for the users cause high development costs, which make an economic application of the automation systems often impossible. One possible solution for the above problems is an open control for modular hybrid construction robots (moving platforms carrying dexterous arms) embedding a variety of skills such as joining building elements (bricklaying), finishing surfaces, mounting accessories with accuracy at high speed, integrated in a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) at the level of the construction enterprise, which means: • Linking by IT the CAD area with the construction site area. • Using AGVs as mobile platforms moving to pre planned locations in the building site and carrying a dexterous robot arm (Zhao, 1992; Nehmzow, 2000). • Using the robot arm in work locations to perform various types of tasks: bricklaying, finishing, etc., pre defined as generic operations and particularized on site. • Using generic computing and communication hardware modules (general purpose motion controller, mathematic processor, universal motion interface, remote control and communication terminal) to build up embedded modular controllers adaptable to the robot work tasks, building site and material flow. • Using open standard software (e.g. Linux-based real time operating system) and open solutions in system design: the basic software system is created from a set of task-oriented modules and library functions such as: trajectory generator, motion tracking, end-effector set up, mobile platform navigator, inclination control, range finder and odometry localization, which are selected, attached and combined according to the set of particular services to be provided in a construction application, Pritschow et al, 1995. • Using a Knowledge Based Technology System (KBTS) to map technology specifications into production data and area robot work tasks. The retrieval of materials and operation specifications from construction data bases is performed via web services to automatically generate the parameters of application programs (base wall and brick pallet locations, offsets in pallets, motion and grasping data (trajectory type, speed, pick offsets) for the robotic arm. A construction IT strategy must be driven by a continuous improvement business strategy. IT architectures and systems need to continue to identify and improve construction metrics to represent the current state of change. In construction, this would include product launch timing for new building sites, scrap reduction, asset utilization, and delivery to schedule. Proceedings of the 14th IFAC Symposium on Information Control Problems in Manufacturing Bucharest, Romania, May 23-25, 2012 978-3-902661-98-2/12/$20.00 © 2012 IFAC 865 10.3182/20120523-3-RO-2023.00341