Hard Real-Time Swarm Coordination & TSN Fieldbus

RealtimeSwarm formalizes hard real-time robotic swarm architectures, sub-millisecond heartbeat synchronization, optimal reciprocal collision avoidance, and Preempt-RT deterministic kernel scheduling.

RealtimeSwarm Deterministic TSN & ORCA Swarm Architecture

Robotics Core: Real-Time Core — Preempt-RT Kernel & TSN Scheduler

Autonomous Robotics Nodes & SLAM Controllers

IEEE 802.1Qbv TSN Switch
Reciprocal Velocity Obstacle (ORCA)
Preempt-RT Linux Kernel
Microsecond Lockstep Timer
Fail-Safe Watchdog Timer

Architectural Layers & Navigation Stacks

Layer 1: Perception & SLAM Subsystem (3D LiDAR / RealSense RGB-D / Fast-LIO2 / Cartographer): High-frequency point cloud acquisition, IMU tightly-coupled pre-integration, and sub-centimeter real-time localization in dynamic environments.
Layer 2: Local Navigation & Model Predictive Control (TEB Local Planner / Timed-Elastic Band / Pure Pursuit): Real-time obstacle evasion, non-holonomic kinematic trajectory optimization, and dynamic ISO 3691-4 safety field switching.
Layer 3: Interoperability, Middleware & Fleet Bus (VDA 5050 v2.1 / ROS 2 Jazzy / Eclipse Zenoh / CycloneDDS): Standardized JSON/MQTT order ingestion, zero-copy intra-node IPC, and deterministic low-latency state reporting across multi-vendor fleets.
Layer 4: Swarm Orchestration & Traffic Optimization (Conflict-Based Search (CBS-MAPF) / Dynamic Block Reservation): Centralized or decentralized conflict-free multi-agent path finding, automated opportunity battery charging, and bottleneck mitigation.

Telemetry & Compliance: ±5 mm (Positioning Accuracy) | <8 ms (Fleet Dispatch Latency) | <12 ms (Safety Stop Reaction) | VDA 5050 v2.1 (Open Fleet Standard)

Deterministic Microsecond Control & Swarm Collision Avoidance in RealtimeSwarm

High-density robotic swarms operating at high velocities require hard real-time deterministic communication and non-blocking collision avoidance. RealtimeSwarm establishes the architectural foundation for sub-millisecond swarm coordination.

Core Engineering Areas

Sub-Millisecond Swarm Heartbeats and Time-Triggered Control — Hardware-scheduled Ethernet frames guaranteeing that swarm state vectors exchange within microsecond time windows without packet collisions.
Optimal Reciprocal Collision Avoidance (ORCA) in Hard Real-Time — Non-blocking multi-agent collision avoidance running in deterministic execution time regardless of local robot density.
Preempt-RT Linux and Microcontroller RTOS Integration — Eliminating operating system latency spikes to guarantee hard real-time execution of robotic motion control threads.

Technical Publications

Related Cluster Architecture Specifications

AMRAgent — Agentic Autonomous Mobile Robots, Edge Mission Planning & Behavioral Trees
AGVSwarm — Automated Guided Vehicle Swarm Logistics, Block-Zone Dispatch & Traffic Control
AGVSync — VDA 5050 Fleet Protocol, Time-Triggered Dispatch & Multi-Vendor Interoperability
AMRSwarm — Decentralized Swarm Intelligence, Spatial Self-Organization & Consensus Navigation