ANIMO, Framework to Simplify the Real-Time Distributed Communication

Abstract

This paper presents a communication framework developed for interconnecting multi-systems based on the Data Distribution Service (DDS). The newly built framework, called ANIMO, facilitates the integration of DDS in an application and the interoperability between the different data types of the Cooperating Objects (COs) with the great feature of real-time. Furthermore, a powerful tool to generate code has been developed bringing the incorporation and the updating of the data types as a very easy and simple task. In addition, a novel module has been performed to give the capacity to communicate the ANIMO framework with the ROS middleware that makes even easier the integration of mobile robots as another Cooperating Object. This paper explains the complete architecture of the ANIMO framework, its diversity of possibilities and two principal works where it has been applied. One is a distributed simulator to validate embedded control algorithms. The other is the task of the supervision and message passing between quadrotors in an experiment of coordination and cooperation involving multiple aerial vehicles.