2023/04/03 by Lei Fu, Salma Salimi, Fu, Lei +5
Computer Science · Engineering · #Advanced Memory and Neural Computing #Blockchain Technology Applications and Security #FOS: Computer and information sciences #IoT and Edge/Fog Computing #Robotics (cs.RO)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2304.00781
openalex publication_date 2023/04/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The integration of blockchain technology in robotic systems has been met by the community with a combination of hype and skepticism. The current literature shows that there is indeed potential for more secure and trustable distributed robotic systems. However, it is still unclear in what aspects of robotics beyond high-level decision making can blockchain technology be indeed usable. This paper explores the limits of a permissioned blockchain framework, Hyperledger Fabric, for teleoperation. Remote operation of mobile robots can benefit from the auditability and security properties of a blockchain. We study the potential benefits and the main limitations of such an approach. We introduce a new design and implementation for a event-driven Fabric-ROS 2 bridge that is able to maintain lower latencies at higher network loads than previous solutions. We also show this opens the door to more realistic use cases and applications. Our experiments with small aerial robots show latencies in the hundreds of milliseconds and simultaneous control of both a single and multi-robot system. We analyze the main trade-offs and limitations for real-world near real-time remote teleoperation.