BlazeAIoT: A Modular Multi-Layer Platform for Real-Time Distributed Robotics Across Edge, Fog, and Cloud Infrastructures

The increasing complexity of distributed robotics has driven the need for platforms that seamlessly integrate edge, fog, and cloud computing layers while meeting strict real-time constraints. This paper introduces BlazeAIoT, a modular multi-layer platform designed to unify distributed robotics across heterogeneous infrastructures. BlazeAIoT provides dynamic data transfer, configurable services, and integrated monitoring, while ensuring resilience, security, and programming language flexibility. The architecture leverages Kubernetes-based clusters, broker interoperability (DDS, Kafka, Redis, and ROS2), and adaptive data distribution mechanisms to optimize communication and computation across diverse environments. The proposed solution includes a multi-layer configuration service, dynamic and adaptive data bridging, and hierarchical rate limiting to handle large messages. The platform is validated through robotics scenarios involving navigation and artificial intelligence-driven large-scale message processing, demonstrating robust performance under real-time constraints. Results highlight BlazeAIoT's ability to dynamically allocate services across incomplete topologies, maintain system health, and minimize latency, making it a cost-aware, scalable solution for robotics and broader IoT applications, such as smart cities and smart factories.

Spherical Rolling Robots Design, Modeling, and Control: A Systematic Literature Review

Spherical robots have garnered increasing interest for their applications in exploration, tunnel inspection, and extraterrestrial missions. Diverse designs have emerged, including barycentric configurations, pendulum-based mechanisms, etc. In addition, a wide spectrum of control strategies has been proposed, ranging from traditional PID approaches to cutting-edge neural networks. Our systematic review aims to comprehensively identify and categorize locomotion systems and control schemes employed by spherical robots, spanning the years 1996 to 2023. A meticulous search across five databases yielded a dataset of 3189 records. As a result of our exhaustive analysis, we identified a collection of novel designs and control strategies. Leveraging the insights garnered, we provide valuable recommendations for optimizing the design and control aspects of spherical robots, supporting both novel design endeavors and the advancement of field deployments. Furthermore, we illuminate key research directions that hold the potential to unlock the full capabilities of spherical robots