Self-reconfiguration planning for a class of modular robots

Arancha Casal; Mark H. Yim

doi:10.1117/12.360345

26 August 1999 Self-reconfiguration planning for a class of modular robots

Arancha Casal, Mark H. Yim

Proceedings Volume 3839, Sensor Fusion and Decentralized Control in Robotic Systems II; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.360345
Event: Photonics East '99, 1999, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

Modular self-reconfigurable robots consist of large numbers of identical modules that possess the ability to reconfigure into different shapes as required by the task at hand. For example, such a robot could start out as a snake to traverse a narrow pipe, then re-assemble itself into a six-legged spider to move over uneven terrain, growing a pair of arms to pick up and manipulate an object at the same time. This paper examines the self-reconfigurable problem and present a divide-and-conquer strategy to solve reconfiguration for a class of problems referred to as closed-chain reconfiguration. This class includes reconfigurable robots whose topologies are described by 1D combinatorial topology. A robot topology is first decomposed into a hierarchy of small 'substrates' belonging to a finite set. Basic reconfiguration operations between the substructures in the set are precomputed, optimized and stored in a lookup table. The entire reconfiguration then consists of an ordered series of simple, precomputed sub-reconfigurations happening locally among the substructures.

Citation Download Citation

Arancha Casal and Mark H. Yim "Self-reconfiguration planning for a class of modular robots", Proc. SPIE 3839, Sensor Fusion and Decentralized Control in Robotic Systems II, (26 August 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.360345

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available