Blend of independent joint control and variable structure systems for uni-drive modular robots
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SUMMARY In this paper, a control design methodology for a new class of modular robots, so-called “uni-drive modular robots” is introduced. Uni-drive modular robots have a substantial advantage over regular modular robots in terms of the mass of each module since then employ only a single drive for powering all the joints. The drive is mounted at the robot base and all joints tap power from this single drive using clutches. By controlling the engagement time of the clutches, the position and velocity of the joints are regulated. After reviewing the structure of the uni-drive modular robot, a self-expansion formula to generate the dynamics of the robot is introduced. The control of uni-drive n -module robots is realized by blending independent joint control and theory of variable structure systems via a pulse width modulation technique. A uni-drive modular robot is used to conduct simulations and validate the control design technique.Keywords:
Self-reconfiguring modular robot
Design of decentralized controllers for self-reconfigurable modular robots using genetic programming
Advantages of self-reconfigurable modular robots over conventional robots include physical adaptability, robustness in the presence of failures, and economies of scale. Creating control software for modular robots is one of the central challenges to realizing their potential advantages. Modular robots differ enough from traditional robots that new techniques must be found to create software to control them. The novel difficulties are due to the fact that modular robots are ideally controlled in a decentralized manner, dynamically change their connectivity topology, may contain hundreds or thousands of modules, and are expected to perform tasks properly even when some modules fail. We demonstrate the use of genetic programming to automatically create distributed controllers for self-reconfigurable modular robots.
Self-reconfiguring modular robot
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Modular robotic systems have been investigated to change the appearance and functions by controlling robotic modules. These reconfigurable modular systems are developed for the interactions between the external environment including humans. Capabilities of compliant interactions are as helpful as those of self-reconfiguration for the modular systems in adapting to the environments. This paper presents a novel concept of a modular robot that has the abilities of compliant actuation and self-reconfiguration to form compliant structures. The authors develop the initial prototype of the modular robots, named Module-W (M-W). Empirical results with the prototype suggest that M-W has the potential to form compliant structures.
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Using Genetic Programming to Design Decentralized Controllers for Self-Reconfigurable Modular Robots
Advantages of self-reconfigurable modular robots over conventional robots include physical adaptability, robustness in the presence of failures, and economies of scale. Creating control software for modular robots is one of the central challenges to realizing their potential advantages. Modular robots differ enough from traditional robots that new techniques must be found to create software to control them. The novel difficulties are due to the fact that modular robots are ideally controlled in a decentralized manner, dynamically change their connectivity topology, may contain hundreds or thousands of modules, and are expected to perform tasks properly even when some modules fail. We demonstrate the use of genetic programming to automatically create distributed controllers for self-reconfigurable modular robots.
Self-reconfiguring modular robot
Adaptability
Robustness
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Modular robots are capable of forming primitive shapes such as lattice and chain structures with the additional flexibility of distributed sensing. The biomimetic structures developed using such modular units provides ease of replacement and reconfiguration in co-ordinated structures, transportation etc. in real life scenarios. Though the research in the employment of modular robotic units in formation of biological organisms is in the nascent stage, modular robotic units are already capable of forming such sophisticated structures. The modular robotic designs proposed so far in modular robotics research vary significantly in external structures, sensor-actuator mechanisms interfaces for docking and undocking, techniques for providing mobility, coordinated structures, locomotions etc. and each robotic design attempted to address various challenges faced in the domain of modular robotics by employing different strategies. This paper presents a novel modular wheeled robotic design - HexaMob facilitating four degrees of freedom (2 degrees for mobility and 2 degrees for structural reconfiguration) on a single module with minimal usage of sensor-actuator assemblies. The crucial features of modular robotics such as back-driving restriction, docking, and navigation are addressed in the process of HexaMob design. The proposed docking mechanism is enabled using vision sensor, enhancing the capabilities in docking as well as navigation in co-ordinated structures such as humanoid robots.
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Modular robots have kinematic characteristics that are notably different from those of general robot systems and allow the adjustment of its kinematic behavior. The ability to change its kinematic configuration according to the task is one of the main advantages for the practical application of modular robots. To obtain an optimal kinematic configuration among modules, all the attachment combinations between them should be considered. However, it is difficult to obtain the Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) parameters for the modular components given the amount of possible combinations. This paper introduces an approach to define the DH parameters of a modular robot by using three vectors. From this approach, the DH parameters of each module are obtained, and the sequential summation of different module parameters results in the complete DH parameter set for a given configuration. Then, all attachment combinations can be considered to find, for instance, an optimal kinematic solution. We present an example to illustrate and validate our approach.
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This article discusses the advantages of a modular robot that can reassemble itself for different tasks. Modular robots are composed of multiple, linked modules. Although individual modules can move on their own, the greatest advantage of modular systems is their structural reconfigurability. Modules can be combined and assembled to form configurations for specific tasks and then reassembled to suit other tasks. Modular robotic systems are also very well suited for dynamic and unpredictable application areas such as search and rescue operations. Modular robots can be reconfigured to suit various situations. Quite a number of modular robotic system prototypes have been developed and studied in the past, each containing unique geometries and capabilities. In some systems, a module only has one degree of freedom. In order to exhibit practical functionality, multiple interconnected modules are required. Other modular robotic systems use more complicated modules with two or three degrees of freedom. However, in most of these systems, a single module is incapable of certain fundamental locomotive behaviors, such as turning.
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Self-reconfiguring modular robot
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There are many studies on hardware and software experiments to control a modular robot. The modular robot consists of homogeneous or heterogeneous simple modules. A feature of them is that the modular robot behavior obtained by an each module movement is based on local communications between linked modules. This study focuses on a computer simulation for a virtual modular robot obeying physics laws. This simulation aims at achieving given tasks autonomously for the virtual modular robot in specific circumstances. Our goal is to acquire a control system in evolution for the virtual modular robot and to analyze and evaluate their behavior.
Self-reconfiguring modular robot
Evolutionary robotics
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There are many studies on hardware and software experiments to control a modular robot. The modular robot consists of homogeneous or heterogeneous simple modules. A feature of it is that the modular robot behavior is obtained by an each module movement based on local communications between linked modules. This study focuses on a computer simulation obeying physics laws for a virtual modular robot. This simulation aims at achieving given tasks autonomously for it in specific circumstances. Our goal is to acquire a control system in evolution for the virtual modular robot and to analyze and evaluate their behavior.
Self-reconfiguring modular robot
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This paper addresses a new technique of metamorphic modular robotics. Although a motion of the modular robots, in general, are performed based on given plans, environmental adaptation ability is not enough.However, modular robots should be able to be active even if the affected by the environment. In this article, autonomous motion planning for modular robots to improve the environmental adaptation is proposed. Finally validity of the technique is verified by several experiments.
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Self-reconfiguring modular robot
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