The deformatron robot: a biologically inspired homogeneous modular robot

The Deformatron robot is a homogeneous, modular robot. The Deformatron modules can play one of three roles in the physical structure of the robot: bone, tendon, and muscle. These roles are inspired by their biological counterparts. This combination of roles gives us a modular robot which potentially may have enough structural strength and actuation power to manipulate its environment and work in three dimension even in the presence of gravity. In this paper we present our preliminary LEGO-based prototype of the Deformatron robot. We measure and analyse the properties of the system in terms of structural strength and actuation power. Finally, we conclude that the Deformatron concept may provide an avenue of research which may make modular robots stronger and better suited for real world task environments