Specifying Behavior in C++

Most robot programming takes place in the "time domain", that is, the goal is to specify the behavior of a system that is acquiring a continual temporal stream of inputs, and is required to provide a continual, temporal stream of outputs. We present a reactive programming language, based on the functional reactive programming paradigm, for specifying such behavior. The major attributes of this language are: 1) it provides for both synchronous and asynchronous definitions of behavior; 2) specification is equational in nature; 3) it is type safe; and 4) it is embedded in C++. In particular the latter makes it simple to "lift" existing C++ libraries into the language.

Authors

• Xiangtian Dai
• Gregory D. Hager
• John Peterson

Keywords

• Robot sensing systems
• Fiber reinforced plastics
• Control systems
• Functional programming
• Software libraries
• Robot programming
• Sensor systems
• Computer science
• Computer languages
• Equations
• Programming Language
• Programming Paradigm
• Actual Behavior
• Flow Data
• Robotic System
• Robot Control
• Obstacle Avoidance
• Typical Signature
• Value Of Behavior
• Collision Detection
• Domain-specific Languages
• Event Stream
• Discrete Behaviors
• Obvious Extension
• Single Clock