Patent ID: 8369992

Claim:
A robotic system comprising: a robot having a plurality of integrated system components, including a plurality of compliant robotic joints, actuators each connected to and configured to move a respective one of the robotic joints, and sensors that measure control and feedback data at a plurality of control points of the robotic system; and a controller in communication with the integrated system components, and having distributed control levels, wherein the controller is configured to control the integrated system components using information from the sensors, via the multiple distributed control levels, over multiple high-speed communication networks; wherein the controller includes a finite state machine (FSM) having hardware, software, and firmware, and further includes a plurality of embedded diagnostic, prognostic, and health management (DPHM) modules, at least one of which is embedded within each of the integrated system components, each of the DPHM modules being configured to measure and control, using the at least one FSM, DPHM data and system behavior for a respective one of the integrated system components, and to record the DPHM data in a memory location that is accessible over the high-speed communication networks.