Cloud Robotics: A Framework Towards Cloud-enabled Multi-robotics Survivability

The emergence of cloud computing has transformed the potential of robotics by enabling multi-robotic teams to fulfil complex tasks in the cloud. This paradigm is known as "cloud robotics" and relieves robots from hardware and software limitations as large amounts of available resources and parallel computing capabilities are available in the cloud. A major challenge however, currently faced in cloud robotics is the inherent problem of cloud disconnection which would result in a robot not being able to fulfil certain tasks. This work serves to assist with the challenge of disconnection in cloud robotics by proposing a survivable cloud multi-robotics (SCMR) framework for heterogeneous environments. The SCMR framework leverages the combination of a virtual ad hoc network formed by the robot-to-robot communication and a physical cloud infrastructure formed by the robot-to-cloud communications. The Quality of Service (QoS) on the SCMR framework is tested and validated by determining the optimal energy utilization and Time of Response (ToR) on drivability analysis with and without cloud connection. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed framework is feasible for current multi-robotic applications and shows the survivability aspect of the framework in instances of cloud disconnection.