robot/ControlInterface

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/* **-*-c++-*-**************************************************************
  Copyright (C)2002 David Jung <opensim@pobox.com>

  This program/file is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
  (at your option) any later version.
        
  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
  GNU General Public License for more details. (http://www.gnu.org)
        
  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
  along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
  Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA

  $Id: ControlInterface 1039 2004-02-11 20:50:52Z jungd $
  $Revision: 1.9 $
  $Date: 2004-02-11 15:50:52 -0500 (Wed, 11 Feb 2004) $
  $Author: jungd $
 
****************************************************************************/

#ifndef _ROBOT_CONTROLINTERFACE_
#define _ROBOT_CONTROLINTERFACE_

#include <robot/robot>
#include <base/ReferencedObject>
#include <base/Named>

#include <base/Vector>


namespace robot {

/**
 * The abstract interface through which Controller(s) can control
 *  Controllables.
 *
 * Each interface has a number of inputs and outputs.  The meaning
 *  of these depend on the specific interface type.  Interfaces are
 *  also named.  Both the type and name are Strings.  Type strings
 *  are title case with an initial capital letter and name strings are
 *  title case with an initial lower case letter.
 *
 *  An example specification of a ControlInterface:
 *   type: "ManipulatorForceControl"
 *   name: "titanJoints"
 *   outputs: i:[0..N-1] - N= num of joints: commanded joint force/torque 
 *   inputs:  i:[0..N-1] - N= num of joints: current joint position
 *    
 *  The inputs and outputs of each interface are also named.
 *  For example, getInputName(0) on the above interface might return
 *   "jointPosition1".
 *  ControlInterfaces are obtained via the Controllable method
 *   getControlInterface(String interfaceName) by name.
 *  e.g. ref<ControlInterface> titan( c->getControlInterface("titanJoints") );
 *  They can then be passed to a Contoller that is expecting a ControlInterface
 *   of that type.
 *  e.g. controller->setControlInterface(titan);
 *   will succeed if the controller was expecting an interface of type "ManipulatorForceControl"
 *   and will be silently ignored otherwise.  Use the Controller::isConnected() to
 *   query if a Controller has been connected to all the ControlInterfaces it needs.
 */
class ControlInterface : public base::ReferencedObject, public base::Named
{
public:
  ControlInterface() {}
  ControlInterface(const String& name, const String& type)
    : base::Named(name), type(type) {}
  ControlInterface(const ControlInterface& ci)
    : base::Named(ci), type(ci.type) {}

  const String& getType() const { return type; }

  virtual Int           inputSize() const = 0;
  virtual String        inputName(Int i) const = 0;
  virtual Real          getInput(Int i) const = 0;
  virtual const Vector& getInputs() const = 0;

  virtual Int    outputSize() const = 0;
  virtual String outputName(Int i) const = 0;
  virtual void   setOutput(Int i, Real value) = 0;
  virtual void   setOutputs(const Vector& values) = 0;

protected:
  void setType(const String& type) { this->type=type; }

private:
  String type;
};


} // robot

#endif

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