Self-assembly and self-repair method for a distributed mechanical system

Tomita, Kohji; Murata, Satoshi; Kurokawa, Haruhisa; Yoshida, Eiichi; Kokaji, Shigeru

doi:10.1109/70.817668

Cited by 116 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Murata et al originally developed the Fracta robot system [8] [9], which can reconfigure by rotating units about each other. Tomita et al [10] have since extended this work to a system in which modules can climb over one another, and Yoshida et al [11] have developed a miniaturized selfreconfigurable robot. Ichikawa et al [12] have demonstrated a collective robotics system in which individual robots can attach and detach from each other to form variable multirobot structures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three Dimensional Stochastic Reconfiguration of Modular Robots

White¹,

Zykov²,

Bongard³

et al. 2005

Robotics: Science and Systems I

127

116

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Abstract-Here we introduce one simulated and two physical three-dimensional stochastic modular robot systems, all capable of self-assembly and self-reconfiguration. We assume that individual units can only draw power when attached to the growing structure, and have no means of actuation. Instead they are subject to random motion induced by the surrounding medium when unattached. We present a simulation environment with a flexible scripting language that allows for parallel and serial selfassembly and self-reconfiguration processes. We explore factors that govern the rate of assembly and reconfiguration, and show that self-reconfiguration can be exploited to accelerate the assembly of a particular shape, as compared with static self-assembly. We then demonstrate the ability of two different physical three-dimensional stochastic modular robot systems to self-reconfigure in a fluid. The second physical implementation is only composed of technologies that could be scaled down to achieve stochastic self-assembly and self-reconfiguration at the microscale.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three Dimensional Stochastic Reconfiguration of Modular Robots

White¹,

Zykov²,

Bongard³

et al. 2005

Robotics: Science and Systems I

127

116

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Another application is space/planetary exploration, where unpredictable terrains on a planet have to be explored by a robot before human beings are sent (Jantapremjit and Austin, 2001). In the literature, it is possible to find several modular designs (Murata et al, 1998, Kotay et al, 1999, Casal and Yim 1999, Fukuda and Nakagawa 1988, Yim et al, 2000, Castaño and Will, 2000, Pamecha et al, 1996, Fukuda and Kawauchi , 1990, Suh et al, 2002, Tomita et al, 1999, Ünsal and Khosla 2000 where authors developed the hardware and the control software. Development of functional selfreconfigurable robots is a significant challenge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Base Molecule Design and Simulation of Modular Robot Robmat

Escalera

Saltarén

Ferré

et al. 2005

IFAC Proceedings Volumes

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This article presents the design of the base molecule for the RobMAT modular robot and the simulation tool MAVES (Modular Agents Virtual Environment Simulator). The base molecule is formed by 3 link atoms, 2-foot accessories and 2 joint atoms with 3 d.o.f. With the developed simulator, it is possible to analyse the kinematics morphology and dynamics behaviour of different configurations. MAVES tool allows evaluating control algorithms in order to minimize some parameters. Denavit-Hartenberg method is applied to calculate the kinematics of the base molecule and from thereon study the singular configuration of the modular robot.

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“…Lattice robots like MAAM (Gueganno and Duhaut, 2004), Crystalline (Vona and Rus, 2000), Telecube (Vassilvitskii et al, 2002), Fractum (Tomita et al, 1999), ATRON (Østergaard and Lund, 2003) and I-Cubes (Unsal et al, 2000) locomote by moving modules to neighbouring positions on a lattice. Chain robots like M-TRAN (Kurokawa et al, 2003), Polybot , Conro (Castano et al, 2002) and Y1 (Gonzalez-Gomez and Boemo, 2005) (González-Gó mez et al, 2004) for an example of a robot using a single FPGA for controlling all modules and (Gueganno and Duhaut, 2004) for a modular robot using an FPGA for each module.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring adaptive locomotion with YaMoR, a novel autonomous modular robot with Bluetooth interface

Moeckel

Jaquier

Drapel

et al. 2006

Industrial Robot: An International Journal

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Purpose -This paper aims to present a novel modular robot that provides a flexible framework for exploring adaptive locomotion. Design/methodology/approach -A new modular robot is presented called YaMoR (for "Yet another Modular Robot"). Each YaMoR module contains an FPGA and a microcontroller supporting a wide range of control strategies and high computational power. The Bluetooth interface included in each YaMoR module allows wireless communication between the modules and controlling the robot from a PC. A control software called Bluemove was developed and implemented that allows easy testing of the capabilities for locomotion of a large variety of robot configurations. Findings -With the help of the control software called Bluemove, different configurations of the YaMoR modules were tested like a wheel, caterpillar or configurations with limbs and their capabilities for locomotion. Originality/value -This paper demonstrates that modular robots can act as a powerful framework for exploring locomotion of a large variety of different types of robots. Although present research is limited to exploring locomotion, YaMoR modules are designed to be general purpose and support a variety of applications.

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Self-assembly and self-repair method for a distributed mechanical system

Cited by 116 publications

References 10 publications

Three Dimensional Stochastic Reconfiguration of Modular Robots

Three Dimensional Stochastic Reconfiguration of Modular Robots

Base Molecule Design and Simulation of Modular Robot Robmat

Exploring adaptive locomotion with YaMoR, a novel autonomous modular robot with Bluetooth interface

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