Special issue on Software Engineering for Robotics

A special issue of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine

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Introduction

Software Engineering techniques and methodologies are ubiquitously applied in many application domains, such as factory automation, telecommunications, automotive. The synergy between Robotics and Software Engineering is strategic. Their mutual benefit is to make it possible to build and evolve new software systems as integration of reusable building blocks. The keyword is "system" and the robotic field is a good and challenging example of these systems: heterogeneous structures where properties are emerging from the interaction of constituent parts. In this scenario, Software Engineering techniques and methodologies play a key role, as they are the tool to capture the fundamental elements of a robot application and their interaction patterns.

Scope, description and more information

The proposed special issue is intended to publish contributions on Software Engineering models, methods, and tools in the design of robot software systems with their applications to industrial and experimental robotics. In particular, the special issue will focus on

Analysis of issues and challenges in the development of software systems (applications, frameworks, middleware), that make the robotic domain similar/different to other application domains (e.g. automotive, factory automation)
Identification of recurrent concepts, aspects, and requirements in robot software development, that may lead to the definition of standard / common / unified architectures
Documentation of software models that lead to reusable robotic software design and that may enable measures and procedures to evaluate software quality factors
Software environments and tools that simplify the design, implementation, and reuse of robot software architectures.
Case studies of successful software development for real robotic systems.
Experience reports on using commercial (e.g. Microsoft Robotics Studio) or open-source (e.g. Player/Stage) software tools.

To establish coherence between the papers, submissions must address the following points, where relevant:

Where does the work fit in the development of software for robotics?
What problem/deficit/need does it address?
What other work has been done in this area, and why is this contribution important?