Reasoning about goal-directed real-time teleo-reactive programs

The teleo-reactive programming model is a high-level approach to developing real-time systems that supports hierarchical composition and durative actions. The model is different from frameworks such as action systems, timed automata and TLA+, and allows programs to be more compact and descriptive of their intended behaviour. Teleo-reactive programs are particularly useful for implementing controllers for autonomous agents that must react robustly to their dynamically changing environments. In this paper, we develop a real-time logic that is based on Duration Calculus and use this logic to formalise the semantics of teleo-reactive programs. We develop rely/guarantee rules that facilitate reasoning about a program and its environment in a compositional manner. We present several theorems for simplifying proofs of teleo-reactive programs and present a partially mechanised method for proving progress properties of goal-directed agents. © 2013 British Computer Society

Deriving real-time action systems with multiple time bands using algebraic reasoning

The verify-while-develop paradigm allows one to incrementally develop programs from their specifications using a series of calculations against the remaining proof obligations. This paper presents a derivation method for real-time systems with realistic constraints on their behaviour. We develop a high-level interval-based logic that provides flexibility in an implementation, yet allows algebraic reasoning over multiple granularities and sampling multiple sensors with delay. The semantics of an action system is given in terms of interval predicates and algebraic operators to unify the logics for an action system and its properties, which in turn simplifies the calculations and derivations

Approximating Idealised Real-Time Specifications Using Time Bands

Timed specifications are often formalised at an absolute level of precision, which does not reflect the real world that the specifications model, i.e., in the real world, inputs cannot be sampled with absolute precision and physical hardware cannot react instantaneously. As a result the developed specifications can often become unimplementable. In this paper, we consider the time bands model which allows time to be structured into several layers of abstraction and relationships between bands to be formalised. This allows the timed specifications developed under idealised assumptions to be approximated using the time band in which the variables are sampled. We implement the approximated specifications using teleo-reactive programs embedded with time bands

A timeband framework for modelling real-time systems

Complex real-time systems must integrate physical processes with digital control, human operation and organisational structures. New scientific foundations are required for specifying, designing and implementing these systems. One key challenge is to cope with the wide range of time scales and dynamics inherent in such systems. To exploit the unique properties of time, with the aim of producing more dependable computer-based systems, it is desirable to explicitly identify distinct time bands in which the system is situated. Such a framework enables the temporal properties and associated dynamic behaviour of existing systems to be described and the requirements for new or modified systems to be specified. A system model based on a finite set of distinct time bands is motivated and developed in this paper

Deriving specifications of control programs for cyber physical systems

Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) exist in a physical environment and comprise both physical components and a control program. Physical components are inherently liable to failure and yet an overall CPS is required to operate safely, reliably and cost effectively. This paper proposes a framework for deriving the specification of the software control component of a CPS from an understanding of the behaviour required of the overall system in its physical environment. The two key elements of this framework are (i) an extension to the use of rely/guarantee conditions to allow specifications to be obtained systematically from requirements (as expressed in terms of the required behaviour in the environment) and nested assumptions (about the physical components of the CPS); and (ii) the use of time bands to record the temporal properties required of the CPS at a number of different granularities. The key contribution is in combining these ideas; using time bands overcomes a significant drawback in earlier work. The paper also addresses the means by which the reliability of a CPS can be addressed by challenging each rely condition in the derived specification and, where appropriate, improve robustness and/or define weaker guarantees that can be delivered with respect to the corresponding weaker rely conditions

Fractional permissions and non-deterministic evaluators in interval temporal logic

We propose Interval Temporal Logic as a basis for reasoning about concurrent programs with fine-grained atomicity due to the generality it provides over reasoning with standard pre/post-state relations. To simplify the semantics of parallel composition over intervals, we use fractional permissions, which allows one to ensure that conflicting reads and writes to a variable do not occur simultaneously. Using non-deterministic evaluators over intervals, we enable reasoning about the apparent states over an interval, which may differ from the actual states in the interval. The combination of Interval Temporal Logic, non-deterministic evaluators and fractional permissions results in a generic framework for reasoning about concurrent programs with fine-grained atomicity. We use our logic to develop rely/guarantee-style rules for decomposing a proof of a large system into proofs of its subcomponents, where fractional permissions are used to ensure that the behaviours of a program and its environment do not conflict

Data refinement for true concurrency

The majority of modern systems exhibit sophisticated concurrent behaviour, where several system components modify and observe the system state with fine-grained atomicity. Many systems (e.g., multi-core processors, real-time controllers) also exhibit truly concurrent behaviour, where multiple events can occur simultaneously. This paper presents data refinement defined in terms of an interval-based framework, which includes high-level operators that capture non-deterministic expression evaluation. By modifying the type of an interval, our theory may be specialised to cover data refinement of both discrete and continuous systems. We present an interval-based encoding of forward simulation, then prove that our forward simulation rule is sound with respect to our data refinement definition. A number of rules for decomposing forward simulation proofs over both sequential and parallel composition are developed

Rely/guarantee reasoning for teleo-reactive programs over multiple time bands

A complex real-time system consists of components at multiple time abstractions with varying notions of granularity and precision. Existing hybrid frameworks only allow reasoning at a single granularity and at an absolute level of precision, which can be problematic because the models that are developed can become unimplementable. In this paper, we develop a framework that incorporates time bands so that the behaviour of each component may be specified at a time granularity that is appropriate for the component and its properties. We implement our controllers using teleo-reactive programs, which are high-level programs that are well-suited to controlling reactive systems in dynamic environments. We develop rely/guarantee-style reasoning rules and as an example, prove properties of a well-known mine-pump system

Perception and intelligent localization for autonomous driving

Mestrado em Engenharia de Computadores e TelemáticaVisão por computador e fusão sensorial são temas relativamente recentes, no entanto largamente adoptados no desenvolvimento de robôs autónomos que exigem adaptabilidade ao seu ambiente envolvente. Esta dissertação foca-se numa abordagem a estes dois temas para alcançar percepção no contexto de condução autónoma. O uso de câmaras para atingir este fim é um processo bastante complexo. Ao contrário dos meios sensoriais clássicos que fornecem sempre o mesmo tipo de informação precisa e atingida de forma determinística, as sucessivas imagens adquiridas por uma câmara estão repletas da mais variada informação e toda esta ambígua e extremamente difícil de extrair. A utilização de câmaras como meio sensorial em robótica é o mais próximo que chegamos na semelhança com aquele que é o de maior importância no processo de percepção humana, o sistema de visão. Visão por computador é uma disciplina científica que engloba àreas como: processamento de sinal, inteligência artificial, matemática, teoria de controlo, neurobiologia e física. A plataforma de suporte ao estudo desenvolvido no âmbito desta dissertação é o ROTA (RObô Triciclo Autónomo) e todos os elementos que consistem o seu ambiente. No contexto deste, são descritas abordagens que foram introduzidas com fim de desenvolver soluções para todos os desafios que o robô enfrenta no seu ambiente: detecção de linhas de estrada e consequente percepção desta, detecção de obstáculos, semáforos, zona da passadeira e zona de obras. É também descrito um sistema de calibração e aplicação da remoção da perspectiva da imagem, desenvolvido de modo a mapear os elementos percepcionados em distâncias reais. Em consequência do sistema de percepção, é ainda abordado o desenvolvimento de auto-localização integrado numa arquitectura distribuída incluindo navegação com planeamento inteligente. Todo o trabalho desenvolvido no decurso da dissertação é essencialmente centrado no desenvolvimento de percepção robótica no contexto de condução autónoma.Computer vision and sensor fusion are subjects that are quite recent, however widely adopted in the development of autonomous robots that require adaptability to their surrounding environment. This thesis gives an approach on both in order to achieve perception in the scope of autonomous driving. The use of cameras to achieve this goal is a rather complex subject. Unlike the classic sensorial devices that provide the same type of information with precision and achieve this in a deterministic way, the successive images acquired by a camera are replete with the most varied information, that this ambiguous and extremely dificult to extract. The use of cameras for robotic sensing is the closest we got within the similarities with what is of most importance in the process of human perception, the vision system. Computer vision is a scientific discipline that encompasses areas such as signal processing, artificial intelligence, mathematics, control theory, neurobiology and physics. The support platform in which the study within this thesis was developed, includes ROTA (RObô Triciclo Autónomo) and all elements comprising its environment. In its context, are described approaches that introduced in the platform in order to develop solutions for all the challenges facing the robot in its environment: detection of lane markings and its consequent perception, obstacle detection, trafic lights, crosswalk and road maintenance area. It is also described a calibration system and implementation for the removal of the image perspective, developed in order to map the elements perceived in actual real world distances. As a result of the perception system development, it is also addressed self-localization integrated in a distributed architecture that allows navigation with long term planning. All the work developed in the course of this work is essentially focused on robotic perception in the context of autonomous driving