Smart Cloud: Scalable Cloud Robotic Architecture for Web-powered Multi-Robot Applications

Robots have inherently limited onboard processing, storage, and power capabilities. Cloud computing resources have the potential to provide significant advantages for robots in many applications. However, to make use of these resources, frameworks must be developed that facilitate robot interactions with cloud services. In this paper, we propose a cloud-based architecture called Smart Cloud that intends to overcome the physical limitations of single- or multi-robot systems through massively parallel computation, provided on demand by cloud services. Smart Cloud is implemented on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and available for robots running on the Robot Operating System (ROS) and on non-ROS systems. Smart Cloud features a first-of-its-kind architecture that incorporates JavaScript-based libraries to run various robotic applications related to machine learning and other methods. This paper presents the architecture and its performance in terms of CPU power usage, latency, and security, and finally validates it for navigation and machine learning applications.