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Everything begins with the XML!
The Trossen Robotics System uses an XML configuration file in order to store each robot's unique information. This includes dimensions of leg sections, servo angle values, and controller serial numbers.
Multiple Robots - Same Code
Storing the information by this method allows developers to write code which is usable beyond that for which it was originally created. Code written for just one specific robot can be transplanted and applied to multiple robots, regardless of value-differences. Take for example, a research lab with four of the same robot model, each being used on different terrain. Even though the model of each robot may be the same, each version will have it's own unique values. (For instance, each motor controller will have it's own unique serial number and the servos themselves will have slightly different values for their 0-, 90-, and 180-degree positions.) Storing information which fluctuates from robot to robot in an external XML file allows for code to be developed which works across multiple robots regardless of their unique differences.
The advantages don't stop at just sharing code between exact models of robots. The same concept is applied to robots which are similar, but not exactly the same. For example, a developer in Japan with an 18 inch-tall arm could share code with a person in Chicago with a 36 inch-tall arm.
How can different sized robots share code?
It’s very simple. Since the unique dimensions are stored for each robot, the algorithms for operations (such as walking or articulating an arm) are "blind" to the robot’s size. The algorithms are "fed" the stored dimensions of the robot from the XML file and will perform their assigned calculations regardless of robot size or configuration, so .developers are no longer restricted to rewriting basic robotics functions over and over again. To read more, please view the Algorithm Library page.
Beautifully Simple
It's not a hard concept to grasp. Storing the robotic values in XML seems like a small step for robotics, but its implications are far reaching. XML storage opens the door for a new model in robotic development – one which allows for students, hobbyists, and research labs to share their code and advancements with each other. For far too long, robotics developers have been reinventing the robotic wheel (over and over and over again). It's time we start standing upon each others’ shoulders and advancing together – as a worldwide community.
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