Self Sufficiency Of An Autonomous Reconfigurable Modular Robotic Organism

This book describes how the principle of self-sufficiency can be applied to a reconfigurable modular robotic organism. It shows the design considerations for a novel REPLICATOR robotic platform, both hardware and software, featuring the behavioral characteristics of social insect colonies. Following a comprehensive overview of some of the bio-inspired techniques already available, and of the state-of-the-art in re-configurable modular robotic systems, the book presents a novel power management system with fault-tolerant energy sharing, as well as its implementation in the REPLICATOR robotic modules. In addition, the book discusses, for the first time, the concept of “artificial energy homeostasis” in the context of a modular robotic organism, and shows its verification on a custom-designed simulation framework in different dynamic power distribution and fault tolerance scenarios. This book offers an ideal reference guide for both hardware engineers and software developers involved in the design and implementation of autonomous robotic systems.

Self-organizing approaches inspired from biological systems, such as social insects, genetic, molecular and cellular systems under morphogenesis, and human mental development, has enjoyed great success in advanced robotic systems that need to work in dynamic and changing environments. Compared with classical control methods for robotic systems, the major advantages of bio-inspired self-organizing robotic systems include robustness, self-repair and self-healing in the presence of system failures and/or malfunctions, high adaptability to environmental changes, and autonomous self-organization and self-reconfiguration without a centralized control. “Bio-inspired Self-organizing Robotic Systems” provides a valuable reference for scientists, practitioners and research students working on developing control algorithms for self-organizing engineered collective systems, such as swarm robotic systems, self-reconfigurable modular robots, smart material based robotic devices, unmanned aerial vehicles, and satellite constellations.

A comprehensive survey of the growing field of self-reconfigurable robots that discusses the history of the field, design considerations, and control strategies. Self-reconfigurable robots are constructed of robotic modules that can be connected in many different ways. These modules move in relationship to each other, which allows the robot as a whole to change shape. This shapeshifting makes it possible for the robots to adapt and optimize their shapes for different tasks. Thus, a self-reconfigurable robot can first assume the shape of a rolling track to cover distance quickly, then the shape of a snake to explore a narrow space, and finally the shape of a hexapod to carry an artifact back to the starting point. The field of self-reconfigurable robots has seen significant progress over the last twenty years, and this book collects and synthesizes existing research previously only available in widely scattered individual papers, offering an accessible guide to the latest information on self-reconfigurable robots for researchers and students interested in the field. Self-Reconfigurable Robots focuses on conveying the intuition behind the design and control of self-reconfigurable robots rather than technical details. Suggestions for further reading refer readers to the underlying sources of technical information. The book includes descriptions of existing robots and a brief history of the field; discussion of module design considerations, including module geometry, connector design, and computing and communication infrastructure; an in-depth presentation of strategies for controlling self-reconfiguration and locomotion; and exploration of future research challenges.

This book examines the evolution of self-organised multicellular structures, and the remarkable transition from unicellular to multicellular life. It shows the way forward in developing new robotic entities that are versatile, cooperative and self-configuring.

What Is Self Reconfiguring Modular Robot Self-reconfigurable modular robots are autonomous kinematic machines that may take on a variety of shapes and configurations. They are also known as modular self-reconfiguring robotic systems. In addition to the conventional actuation, sensing, and control that are typically found in fixed-morphology robots, self-reconfiguring robots have the ability to deliberately change their own shape by rearranging the connectivity of their parts. This enables them to adapt to new circumstances, perform new tasks, or recover from damage more quickly than fixed-morphology robots. How You Will Benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Self-reconfiguring modular robot Chapter 2: Robot Chapter 3: Reconfigurable computing Chapter 4: Utility fog Chapter 5: Ant colony optimization algorithms Chapter 6: Swarm intelligence Chapter 7: Claytronics Chapter 8: Reconfigurable manufacturing system Chapter 9: Control reconfiguration Chapter 10: Programmable matter Chapter 11: Physicomimetics Chapter 12: Webots Chapter 13: Daniela L. Rus Chapter 14: Robotics Chapter 15: MIBE architecture Chapter 16: Morphogenetic robotics Chapter 17: Torch (machine learning) Chapter 18: Kilobot Chapter 19: Molecubes Chapter 20: Soft robotics Chapter 21: Continuum robot (II) Answering the public top questions about self reconfiguring modular robot. (III) Real world examples for the usage of self reconfiguring modular robot in many fields. (IV) 17 appendices to explain, briefly, 266 emerging technologies in each industry to have 360-degree full understanding of self reconfiguring modular robot' technologies. Who This Book Is For Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of self reconfiguring modular robot.

It is man’s ongoing hope that a machine could somehow adapt to its environment by reorganizing itself. This is what the notion of self-organizing robots is based on. The theme of this book is to examine the feasibility of creating such robots within the limitations of current mechanical engineering. The topics comprise the following aspects of such a pursuit: the philosophy of design of self-organizing mechanical systems; self-organization in biological systems; the history of self-organizing mechanical systems; a case study of a self-assembling/self-repairing system as an autonomous distributed system; a self-organizing robot that can create its own shape and robotic motion; implementation and instrumentation of self-organizing robots; and the future of self-organizing robots. All topics are illustrated with many up-to-date examples, including those from the authors’ own work. The book does not require advanced knowledge of mathematics to be understood, and will be of great benefit to students in the robotics discipline, including in the areas of mechanics, control, electronics, and computer science. It is also an important source for researchers who wish to investigate the field of robotics or who have an interest in the application of self-organizing phenomena.

Abstract: Disaster support and recovery generally involve highly irregular and dangerous environments. Modular robots are a salient solution to support search and rescue efforts but are still limited to do their reliance on a rigid structure design. To enhance flexibility and resilience to damage, a soft-body interconnection mechanism for self-reconfigurable modular robotic systems has been developed. The soft-body interconnection mechanism utilizes elastomeric polymers instead of a rigid body. Hence, it is capable of deforming under extreme loads without damage. This thesis presents the work completed towards the realization of a soft-body interconnection mechanism. The functional requirements of the soft-body mechanism were broken down into two separate modules for extension and capture. An initial simulation demonstrated the inability of using a simulated model made of hypo-elastic materials as a basis for design. Hence, an iterative design process was used to develop an initial extension and capture soft-body mechanisms that conformed to the desired performance parameters. An empirical study which varied multiple structural parameters was then completed with the initial extension and capture soft-body mechanisms as a basis for the modified designs. The data from the study was correlated with measured performance data with resulted in diagrams useful for the optimal design of soft-body extension and capture mechanisms. The use of the diagrams for design was demonstrated in the design and development of a soft-body interconnection mechanism for an in-house designed small hard shell modular robot system.