Intelligent Space (iSpace) is a space (room, corridor, street, etc.), which has distributed sensor, controllers, and actuators, that is capable to provide intelligent services.

iSpace fuses global information within the space of interest to effectively and efficiently make intelligent space operation decisions such as how to move a mobile robot from one location to the other.

This project focuses on controlling the mobile service robot in iSpace through a communication network. The mobile robot needs to perform path-tracking task to follow the path from the starting point to the destination.

Such a control system having a communication network in the control loop is called Network-based control (NBC) system as the structure shown below. The controller design for a NBC system is a challenge problem since the random time delay problem can introduce the system instability and is difficult to cope. Since the mobile robot is a nonlinear system, very few literature focused on this problem before.

Feedback control loop with embedded communication delay

As in iSpace, an intelligent service may require to aggregate information from several sources before making a decision. This may prohibit the installation of the decision making module (a controller) locally on the actuator (mobile robot) and hence introduce the delay effect. The control technique that considers the effect of time delay as in Network-based control is a need for development of the intelligent service which is foreseeable in our near future. For example, in manufacturing plant, an automatic fork lift can running around to convey parts from one point to another point; in hospital, a service robot can help bring food and medicine to the patient; or even in our home, we can have a robot to serve a cup of coffee, clean the floor, or even take care of the grass in our garden.

Human-machine interaction in iSpace