This paper gives an overview of component-based software engineering (CBSE), motivates its application to the field of mobile robotics, and proposes a particular component model. CBSE is an approach to system-building that aims to shift the emphasis from programming to composing systems from a mixture of off-the-shelf and custom-built software components. This paper argues that robotics is particularly well-suited for and in need of component-based ideas. Furthermore, now is the right time for their introduction. The paper introduces Orca - an open-source component-based software engineering framework proposed for mobile robotics with an associated repository of free, reusable components for building mobile robotic systems.

This paper is concerned with the design and implementation of a control architecture for a mobile robot that is to navigate in dynamic unknown indoor environments. It is based on the framework of Open Robot Control Software @ KTH, which is discussed and evaluated in this paper. As a hybrid architecture, it is decomposed into several basic components which can be classified as either deliberative or reactive. Each component can concurrently execute and communicate with another using unified communication interfaces. Scalability and portability and reusability are the goals of the design.

The architecture for a mobile service robot is discussed. The paper covers aspects related to overall design and implementation. The robot architecture is of the hybrid deliberative/reactive behavioral type. The strategy is selection where planning is viewed as configuration. The architecture can be divided into three layers, one for deliberation, one for task execution, and one reactive layer. Scalability and a high degree of flexibility have been primary design goals, making it easy to reconfigure the system. The system has been built in an object oriented fashion. An application of the architecture has been tested in a significant number of missions in our lab, where one room has been setup as an ordinary living room.