Feature: Cobots
Figure 2: The runtime architecture of the Lynx system running a separation kernel
causes spikes in worst-case execution times more than six-fold compared to a single core. This is where Lynx focuses, providing a secure hypervisor that can securely partition and isolate applications, whilst guaranteeing that there is microsecond-level response to time-critical events.
Connected These issues are further compounded by the fact that cobots need to be connected, for sharing sensor data, receiving instructions, software updates and their monitoring. The security aspect will impact the system and any device accessible from that network connection. To avoid this, security must be incorporated from the beginning as opposed to retrofitted. There must be an early alert when the system has been compromised, coupled with a way to bring it back to a known good state. And since this is not a static environment, being able to securely download new software to keep the system secure is a must. From a software perspective, the system must be built so it can’t be reconfigured after boot-up and so that no application can accidentally or otherwise cause the robot to fail.
The emergence of collaborative robots is all about interaction and joint work with people in the workplace, in contrast to traditional industrial robots which work autonomously
A Lynx system running a separation
kernel can meet these requirements; see Figure 2. In most deployments, there will be two platform kernels running: 1. The Separation Kernel controlling the physical hardware;
2. The OS kernel hosting guest applications. This introduces an extra abstraction
layer, compared with typical OS designs where hardware control is integrated with the OS kernel. Here, the separation kernel is the only piece of software with access to physical hardware; the application kernels have no access to real hardware and can only manage “mapped resources”. For this “software-assisted hardware
partitioning model”, all application partition boundaries are exclusively
hardware-enforced according to a model. Here, if an application violates a partition boundary, hardware first catches the violation and requests software assistance from the Separation Kernel Hypervisor to manage the exception.
Computing Cobots are about edge computing, which relates to shifting the intelligence nearer to where data is gathered. For latency, network availability and privacy reasons, these cobots will usually harness local on-premise computing resources instead of accessing the cloud. To do so successfully, in a context where they operate alongside and around people and undertake tasks with high safety risks, implies that their design must be safe and secure.
www.electronicsworld.co.uk September/October 2020 39
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