Keybotic Keyper | Dossier takes a similar top-down approach to job requests once it has a complete virtual representation of the operating environment,” Tome says. Intel and EtherCAT As mentioned, the Keyper’s main computer uses two Intel 12th-generation systems, each of which contains an i7 1260p CPU and a GPU. As well as being the latest in Intel’s processor portfolio during the UGV’s development, it contains multiple cores designed for different speeds, so that separate embedded software programs can run at just the rates they need while still operating in parallel with each other. “Our deterministic control computer needs to process many tasks,” Tome says. “Some of them require really high frame rates, some just need parallelisation, and this combination of efficient cores and normal cores has produced a really good system for us. “I’ve not seen this type of segregated compute architecture outside Intel, and I wish they were offered more widely. It’s not dissimilar to how CPUs and GPUs have been established in their different roles as platforms for software in autonomous robots, and in fact we use the GPU that comes with the Intel board for some key image processing tasks. “We had to do a fair amount of kernel programming, but luckily we’ve built a lot of kernel modules in the past, so there wasn’t a lot of trial and error. We had to play around with frequencies a lot, as heat in a CPU increases quadratically with frequency. If you max-out your speeds to get a really quick-thinking robot, you’ll basically have a toaster.” EtherCAT is used for the primary comms bus in the Keyper’s computer network. Initially it was chosen for its bandwidth which, Tome notes, often exceeds the Keyper’s operating requirements, making it a safe bet when development began for future-proofing against bandwidth scarcity. It also provides cable redundancy in the network, among other features. These ancillary capabilities are not used yet, although Keybotic regularly looks into whether extra reliability or efficiency might be gained through them. Those, combined with the ability to seamlessly link multiple systems for real-time determinism, sensor fusion and diagnostics, confirmed this choice by Keybotic’s’ engineers. The EtherCAT protocol contains many proprietary elements, so users typically supply their ASICs to Beckhoff Automation (one of the main vendors of EtherCAT), which then integrates its interfaces into the ASICs. While this takes away much of the transparency and control available through other buses such as CAN, the user gets far higher bandwidth, among other benefits. “In a CAN bus, you have messages zipping up and down through every Inertial Performance Reimagined 0.076°/√hr ARW 600 Hz Bandwidth 10 kHz Output Rate <100 µs Message Delay 0.6 Cubic Inches www.gladiatortechnologies.com/sx2 Lower Noise. Higher Speed. SX2 Inertial Sensors with VELOX™ Technology +1 425.363.4180
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