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Grant support

This research was partially funded by the Community of Madrid in the framework of two research projects: (1) Multiannual agreement with Rey Juan Carlos University in line of action 1, Encouragement of Young Ph.D. Students Investigation project ref. F664, acronym UNIBOTICS2.0, and (2) RoboCity2030-DIH-CM (2019-2022): RoboCity2030-Madrid Robotics Digital Innovation Hub, Programa de Actividades de I+D entre Grupos de investigacion de la Comunidad de Madrid en Tecnologias 2018 project ref. S2018/NMT-4331; and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the RETOGAR project ref. TIN2016-76515-R.

Analysis of institutional authors

Canas, JmCorresponding AuthorFernandez-Conde, JAuthorVega, JAuthor
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Article

Reconfigurable Computing for Reactive Robotics Using Open-Source FPGAs

Publicated to:Electronics. 11 (1): 8- - 2022-01-01 11(1), DOI: 10.3390/electronics11010008

Authors: Canas, Jose M; Fernandez-Conde, Jesus; Vega, Julio; Ordonez, Juan

Affiliations

JdeRobot Org, Alcorcon 28922, Spain - Author
Rey Juan Carlos Univ, Dept Telemat Syst & Computat, Madrid 28942, Spain - Author

Abstract

Reconfigurable computing provides a paradigm to create intelligent systems different from the classic software computing approach. Instead of using a processor with an instruction set, a full stack of middleware, and an application program running on top, the field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) integrate a cell set that can be configured in different ways. A few vendors have dominated this market with their proprietary tools, hardware devices, and boards, resulting in fragmented ecosystems with few standards and little interoperation. However, a new and complete toolchain for FPGAs with its associated open tools has recently emerged from the open-source community. Robotics is an expanding application field that may definitely benefit from this revolution, as fast speed and low power consumption are usual requirements. This paper hypothesizes that basic reactive robot behaviors may be easily designed following the reconfigurable computing approach and the state-of-the-art open FPGA toolchain. They provide new abstractions such as circuit blocks and wires for building intelligent robots. Visual programming and block libraries make such development painless and reliable. As experimental validation, two reactive behaviors have been created in a real robot involving common sensors, actuators, and in-between logic. They have been also implemented using classic software programming for comparison purposes. Results are discussed and show that the development of reactive robot behaviors using reconfigurable computing and open tools is feasible, also achieving a high degree of simplicity and reusability, and benefiting from FPGAs' low power consumption and time-critical responsiveness.

Keywords
AlgorithmArchitectureControl-systemImplementationOpen-source fpgasReconfigurable computingRobotics

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Electronics due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position 72/160, thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Physics, Applied. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q2 para la agencia Scopus (SJR) en la categoría Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 1.7, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions May 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-05-10, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 6
  • Scopus: 6
  • OpenCitations: 5
Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-05-10:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 19.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 19 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 2.2.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 3 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Cañas Plaza, Jose María) .

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Cañas Plaza, Jose María.