R4A is a research team focused on delivering enhanced functionality to/with cyber-physical systems. The team is manned from Faculty members and Researchers at the Electrical and Computer Engineering School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, who have been extensively working on efficient and intelligent solutions for robotics, devices and systems.

The main novelty of the R4A approach is the design and implementation of a middleware architecture and the respective tools that allow for rapid prototyping of device-agnostic applications. The R4A architecture supports the collaboration of robots, devices and/or “things" (in the IoT concept), as well as with cloud services and components, this way fostering a wide range of applications. The R4A approach has already been used in real problems and has proven efficient towards creating solutions in a fast and reliable manner.

We specialize in developing robotic-agnostic middleware though Automated Software Engineering approaches. The R4A middleware solutions offer a wide set of web-based APIs, via which developers can fully manipulate a robot with minimum coding effort. This way one may design and implement robot-agnostic applications which can be executed both in or out of a robot. In a nutshell, we treat robots as platforms which can download and execute applications in a seamless way. Simple as that!

IoT builds upon the network of objects that are enabled with electronics,
software, sensors and network connectivity, this way being able to
collect and exchange data. Smart devices, vehicles and buildings are some of the most known types of objects offen involved in IoT. We work towards treating these objects as components of CPS (Cyber-Physical Systems) via local or cloud IoT platforms and protocols and targeting at their seamless integration, however heterogeneous they may be.

The seamless integration of Cyber-Physical Systems assumes the participation of low-cost and low-capabilities devices and/or robots. R4Aworks towards the design and development of suitable cloud-2-machine architectures, capable of hosting and serving databases, services and datasets, this way enhancing the functionality of low-cost and edge systems to be properly connected.

Systems integration, including robots, devices, services and datasets may prove quite hard given the skillset expected: primitives of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science and DevOps are some of the essentials needed to build cyber-physical systems. We work keenly on Automated Software Engineering methodologies and tools for modelling such systems, so that even non-technical personnel is able to configure and/or integrate such systems.

We argue that software development for systems can be fast and easy, provided that suitable tools exist; thus, our mission is to create the appropriate middleware and software to support low code development for Cyber-Physical Systems

We bring to life envisioned CPS workflows in the form of applications, using our enhanced software architectures. These applications may comprise simple social interaction behaviors up to complex multi-device applications. Based on our approach, CPSs are thereon easily operated and configured.

We design and develop tailored software / hardware solutions by using both high-level components (the R4A architecture), as well as custom-made or existing AI frameworks. Our solutions may include physical devices (embedded systems or robots, equipped with sensors and effectors) or non-physical infrastructures (services, databases and web pages, among others), seamlessly interoperable.

We have large experience in UGVs and UAVs (Unmanned Ground/Aerial Vehicles), especially with respect to intelligence and autonomy. We design, develop and tune state-of-the-art algorithms for vehicle mapping, navigation, exploration, but also speech-to-text and image processing. Our team is equipped with numerous robots, embedded devices, sensors and effectors, thus fast prototyping or robotic solutions can be offered.