Manual systems require the user/programmer to directly enter the desired
behaviour of the robot, usually using a graphical or text-based programming
language, as shown in Fig. 1. Text-based systems are either controller-specific
languages, generic procedural languages, or behavioural languages, which typically differ by the flexibility and method of expression of the system. Graphical
languages [BKS02, BI01] use a graph, flow-chart or diagram based graphical
interface to programming, sacrificing some flexibility and expressiveness for
ease of use.
The user/programmer has little or no direct control over the robot code in
an automatic programming system, which may acquire the program by learning, programming by demonstration (PbD), or by instruction, as indicated
in Fig. 2. Often automatic systems are used “online,” with a running robot,
although a simulation can also be used.
In this sidebar we will focus on the characteristics of commercial programming environments. Simple robots can be programmed directly using their
own operating systems. More sophisticated robots include SDKs to simplify
the programming of their robots. Mobile robots programming environments
vs. industrial manipulators are also presented
