High-Intensity Radiated Field fault-injection experiment for a fault-tolerant distributed communication system

The work area of a team of small robots is limited by their inability to traverse a very common obstacle: stairs. We present a complete integrated control architecture and communication strategy for a system of reconfigurable robots that can climb stairs. A modular robot design is presented which allows the robots to dynamically reconfigure to traverse certain obstacles. This thesis investigates the implementation of a system of autonomous robots which can cooperatively reconfigure themselves to collectively travers obstacle such as stairs. We present a complete behaviorand communication system which facilitates this autonomous reconfiguration. The layered behavior-based control system is fault-tolerant and extends the capabilities of a control architecture known as ALLIANCE. Behavior classes are introduced as mechanism for managing ordering dependencies and monitoring a robot's progress through a particular task. The communication system compliments the behavioral control and iimplementsinherent robot failure detection without the need for a base station or external monitor. The behavior and communication systems are validated by implementing them ona mobile robot platform synthesized specifically for this research. Experimental trials showed that the implementation of the behavior control systems was successful. The control system provided robust, fault-tolerant performance even when robots failed to perform docking tasks while recongifuring. Once the robots reconfigure to form a chain, a different control scheme based on gait control tables coordinates the individual movements of the robots. Several successful stair climbing trials were accomplished. Improvements to the mechanical design are proposed.

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A Recovery-Oriented Approach for Software Fault Diagnosis in Complex Critical Systems

Innovations and Approaches for Resilient and Adaptive Systems ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-2056-8.ch002 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 29-56

Author(s):

Gabriella Carrozza ◽

Roberto Natella

Keyword(s):

Error Detection ◽

Traffic Control ◽

Fault Location ◽

Fault Tolerant ◽

Fault Injection ◽

Critical Systems ◽

Software Faults ◽

Real World Application ◽

Complex Fault ◽

Detection Quality

This paper proposes an approach to software faults diagnosis in complex fault tolerant systems, encompassing the phases of error detection, fault location, and system recovery. Errors are detected in the first phase, exploiting the operating system support. Faults are identified during the location phase, through a machine learning based approach. Then, the best recovery action is triggered once the fault is located. Feedback actions are also used during the location phase to improve detection quality over time. A real world application from the Air Traffic Control field has been used as case study for evaluating the proposed approach. Experimental results, achieved by means of fault injection, show that the diagnosis engine is able to diagnose faults with high accuracy and at a low overhead.

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A Recovery-Oriented Approach for Software Fault Diagnosis in Complex Critical Systems

International Journal of Adaptive Resilient and Autonomic Systems ◽

10.4018/jaras.2011010105 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 77-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Gabriella Carrozza ◽

Roberto Natella

Keyword(s):

Error Detection ◽

Traffic Control ◽

Fault Location ◽

Fault Tolerant ◽

Fault Injection ◽

Critical Systems ◽

Software Faults ◽

Real World Application ◽

Complex Fault ◽

Detection Quality

This paper proposes an approach to software faults diagnosis in complex fault tolerant systems, encompassing the phases of error detection, fault location, and system recovery. Errors are detected in the first phase, exploiting the operating system support. Faults are identified during the location phase, through a machine learning based approach. Then, the best recovery action is triggered once the fault is located. Feedback actions are also used during the location phase to improve detection quality over time. A real world application from the Air Traffic Control field has been used as case study for evaluating the proposed approach. Experimental results, achieved by means of fault injection, show that the diagnosis engine is able to diagnose faults with high accuracy and at a low overhead.

Download Full-text