ActNet: The actor model applied to mobile robotic environments

Abstract

Mobile computers using wireless communication bring new challenges for resources access and cooperative work. Such devices, especially for robots control, may be dynamically specialized by adding cards thus changing computer functionalities. Systems should also manage resource mobility (due to localization change) and resource unavailability (due to failures or disconnections). Actor model is well suited for such environment where location and functionality changes need to be managed transparently from the user applications. This paper describes ActNet, an actor based system designed for a robotic environment and its dynamic resource management. The ActPL programming language model associated to this system is also presented.