Data Flow Port's Monitoring and Arbitration

Developing reusable software is hard; systematically developing high quality reusable software components is even harder. With reusability in mind, there is pressure to be as generic as possible. Separating computational components from application--dependent functionalities is a key principle for building reusable robotic systems. This work introduces an approach where coordinating logic can be transparently inserted into a reusable component, along with data transforms unanticipated by the component author. Firstly, it proposes the Port Monitor Object which extends a component port's functionality with monitoring and event generation using runtime scripting languages. Secondly, the Port Arbitrator and its application to robotics is presented which enhances a port's capability to arbitrate input data from multiple sources. Lastly, it represents some applications of these approaches to further improve the reusability and robustness of robotics system.