Feature: Embedded
Functional safety is critical for many modern-day robotic applications, and will become even more important when innovations in robotics deliver optimised functions, enabling even closer collaboration with people in the workspace
increased data availability, adopting a more human-like manner. Considering the environments robots are found in, industry
leaders are requiring hardware that can operate in harsh conditions. It must not only manage severe situations such as high levels of vibration, humidity and temperature, but also fulfil criteria relating to real-time computing and communication, thermal management, as well as safety – all of them vital for reliable and long-lasting robot control systems.
Embedded systems for robotic applications
By Display Technology technical team E
mbedded systems can be found in a variety of technologies, from industrial and commercial applications to consumer products. As technology advances, so do the capabilities in these applications and, more recently, robotics, where embedded systems are becoming increasingly commonplace.
One of the advantages of embedded systems is that they can run
multiple operating systems (OSs), affording greater flexibility and customisation in robotic applications. Embedded systems can also be used to control other devices, such as sensors and actuators, giving robots the ability to interact with their environment through
24 December/January 2023
www.electronicsworld.co.uk
Robots and humans Functional safety is critical for many modern-day robotic applications and will become even more important when innovations in robotics deliver optimised functions, enabling even closer collaboration with people in the workspace. When a robot fails, there is a risk to the surrounding workers, as well as to product and public safety. Terefore, mitigating safety risks under these conditions will become a fundamental requirement and an integral part of robot system design. One of our embedded partners, Congatec, offers functional
safety-certifiable computer modules to help robot builders and OEMs shorten time to market. Computer-on-modules (COMs) can be utilised as application-ready building blocks that include soſtware components such as bootloader, hypervisor and board support package (BSP), and are already certifiable for functional safety, with the support and documentation from suppliers to speed up the development cycle. Hypervisor is a layer of soſtware between the OS and hardware
that allows multiple virtual machines to share a single physical machine. Hypervisors help run multiple operating systems on a single computer, allowing each OS to have its own set of applications and services. Tis is important for ensuring safe mixed-criticality workloads when designing the system with functional safety, which separates safety-critical tasks from other tasks. It also allows more computing power to be executed at a higher level of efficiency on a single piece of hardware, with low latency. Te BSP is the link between soſtware and hardware in an
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