TY - GEN
T1 - Modular Robotic Controllers with Ad-Hoc ESP32 Wireless Mesh Network and Embedded AES Security
AU - Fang, Yisu
AU - Hafizh, Hadyan
AU - Ateeq, Muhammad
AU - Tan, Andrew Huey Ping
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - This paper presents an innovative decentralized robotic control system utilizing an ESP32-based wireless mesh network (WMN). Building upon the “painlessMesh” library for network management, this study enables JSON-formatted data exchange in peer-to-peer and broadcast modes. A key contribution is our implementation of a security layer incorporating ECDH key exchange and AES128 encryption, which we thoroughly analyze across various node configurations. The WMN is seamlessly integrated with the Robot Operating System (ROS) via a custom serial bridge, combining the mesh network’s real-time, distributed control capabilities with ROS’s advanced computational resources. This architecture creates a flexible, scalable platform for sophisticated robotic applications. Our study rigorously evaluates system performance, balancing network topology, security, and responsiveness. The results provide critical insights for deploying secure, decentralized mesh networks in real-world robotic applications, particularly in areas such as swarm robotics and robot-infrastructure coordination, while maintaining the cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency of ESP32-based nodes.
AB - This paper presents an innovative decentralized robotic control system utilizing an ESP32-based wireless mesh network (WMN). Building upon the “painlessMesh” library for network management, this study enables JSON-formatted data exchange in peer-to-peer and broadcast modes. A key contribution is our implementation of a security layer incorporating ECDH key exchange and AES128 encryption, which we thoroughly analyze across various node configurations. The WMN is seamlessly integrated with the Robot Operating System (ROS) via a custom serial bridge, combining the mesh network’s real-time, distributed control capabilities with ROS’s advanced computational resources. This architecture creates a flexible, scalable platform for sophisticated robotic applications. Our study rigorously evaluates system performance, balancing network topology, security, and responsiveness. The results provide critical insights for deploying secure, decentralized mesh networks in real-world robotic applications, particularly in areas such as swarm robotics and robot-infrastructure coordination, while maintaining the cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency of ESP32-based nodes.
KW - Embedded Systems
KW - Encryption
KW - Internet of Things
KW - Robotics
KW - Wireless Sensor Network
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105002713817&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-981-96-3949-6_30
DO - 10.1007/978-981-96-3949-6_30
M3 - Conference Proceeding
AN - SCOPUS:105002713817
SN - 9789819639489
T3 - Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems
SP - 376
EP - 390
BT - Selected Proceedings from the 2nd International Conference on Intelligent Manufacturing and Robotics, ICIMR 2024 - Advances in Intelligent Manufacturing and Robotics
A2 - Chen, Wei
A2 - Ping Tan, Andrew Huey
A2 - Luo, Yang
A2 - Huang, Long
A2 - Zhu, Yuyi
A2 - PP Abdul Majeed, Anwar
A2 - Zhang, Fan
A2 - Yan, Yuyao
A2 - Liu, Chenguang
PB - Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
T2 - 2nd International Conference on Intelligent Manufacturing and Robotics, ICIMR 2024
Y2 - 22 August 2024 through 23 August 2024
ER -
