HELLENIC FAULT-TOLERANCE FOR ROBOTS

In robot applications where the consequences of system failure are unbearable, fault tolerance is mandatory. Fault tolerant robots continue to function correctly despite component failures. Fault tolerant robots can be designed using the Helenic architecture. This architecture uses non-homogeneous functional modular redundancy and a democratic dynamic weighted voting algorithm for redundancy management to achieve fault tolerance. The benefits offered are increased reliability, maintainability, common mode failure resistance, and significant cost reductions. To demonstrate the fault tolerance capabilities of this system architecture, a 5 wheel omnidirectional mobile robot with sensors, computing elements and actuators was designed and simulated. Simulation results verify the robot's ability to continue 'correct' operation despite internal subsystem failures.