Self-Assembly and Self-Repair during Motion with Modular Robots

Abstract

Self-reconfigurable modular robots consist of multiple modular elements and have the potential to enable future autonomous systems to adapt themselves to handle unstructured environments, novel tasks, or damage to their constituent elements. This paper considers methods of self-assembly, bringing together robotic modules to form larger organism-like structures, and self-repair, removing and replacing faulty modules damaged by internal events or environmental phenomena, which allow group tasks for the multi-robot organism to continue to progress while assembly and repair take place. We show that such “in motion” strategies can successfully assemble and repair a range of structures. Previously developed self-assembly and self-repair strategies have required group tasks to be halted before they could begin. This paper finds that self-assembly and self-repair methods able to operate during group tasks can enable faster completion of the task than previous strategies, and provide reliability benefits in some circumstances. The practicality of these new methods is shown with physical hardware demonstrations. These results show the feasibility of assembling and repairing modular robots whilst other tasks are in progress.

Achievements and future directions in self‐reconfigurable modular robotic systems

“…For instance, the lattice‐type structured SRMRs are represented with the blocks in a lattice form. Peck et al (2022) point out that some structural changes need to be done in a short time based on the mission. When a robot is assigned to work in a nuclear site, disaster area, or extra sensitive environment, self‐reconfiguration, and self‐repair might be needed during the motion of the robot.…”

“…In this case, efficient strategies should be developed to cope with removing any malfunctioned module from the system in a feasible time for the success of the operation. Peck et al (2022) presented a novel approach called quadruplet data structure that can be used for defining the robot structure to handle the issues arisen in the mentioned case. The docking mechanism and the structural formation of their SRMR test‐bed interact with each other concurrently.…”

“…An autonomous docking is offered by equipping onboard sensors that trigger fast response capability to sudden changes in the structure. A detailed view of the mechanisms offered in Peck et al (2022) is given in Figure 3.…”

“…The classes are organized in a block representation related to the class behavior to emphasize the effect of the classification. For instance, the lattice-type structured SRMRs are represented with the blocks in a lattice form Peck et al (2022). point out that some structural changes need to be done in a short time based on the mission.…”

“…When a robot is assigned to work in a nuclear site, disaster area, or extra sensitive environment, selfreconfiguration, and self-repair might be needed during the motion of the robot. In this case, efficient strategies should be developed to cope with removing any malfunctioned module from the system in a feasible time for the success of the operation Peck et al (2022). presented a novel approach called quadruplet data structure that can be used for defining the robot structure to handle the issues arisen in the mentioned case.…”