Title :
Emergent structures in modular self-reconfigurable robots
Author :
Bojinov, Hristo ; Casal, Arancha ; Hogg, Tad
Author_Institution :
Xerox Palo Alto Res. Center, CA, USA
Abstract :
We demonstrate how simple local sensing and control rules achieve useful emergent behaviors in modular self-reconfigurable (metamorphic) robots. Our biologically inspired approach grows structures with the desired functionality even though the final shapes have some unspecified random variation. By contrast, other self-reconfiguration algorithms require an a-priori exact description of a target shape for the given task, which may be difficult when a robot operates in uncertain environments. We present and evaluate several control algorithms through simulation experiments of Proteo, a metamorphic robot system
Keywords :
robots; Proteo; emergent behaviors; emergent structures; local control rules; local sensing rules; metamorphic robot system; modular self-reconfigurable robots; Costs; Distributed control; Manufacturing; Mass production; Orbital robotics; Robot sensing systems; Robotics and automation; Robustness; Shape; Topology;
Conference_Titel :
Robotics and Automation, 2000. Proceedings. ICRA '00. IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-5886-4
DOI :
10.1109/ROBOT.2000.844846