Phase automata: a programming model of locomotion gaits for scalable chain-type modular robots

Author

Zhang, Ying ; Yim, Mark ; Eldershaw, Craig ; Duff, Dave ; Roufas, Kimon

Author_Institution

Palo Alto Res. Center, CA, USA

Volume

3

fYear

2003

fDate

27-31 Oct. 2003

Firstpage

2442

Abstract

Modular reconfigurable robots have the potential for great versatility and robustness; however, programming locomotion gaits for hundreds of modules remains a challenge. In this paper we present a formal model for programming locomotion gaits in chain-type modular robots: phase automata. A phase automation is an event-driven state automation with an initial phase delay. The phase delay is normally a real value between 0 and 1. Phase automata are compact representation of locomotion gaits and capable of being embedded and distributed across modules. The concepts of phase automata have been implemented on both PCs and embedded micro-processors. An XML script language and programming interface for phase automata are being built. Locomotion gaits programmed using phase automata have been tested both in simulation with 100+ modules and in hardware with 50+ modules.

Keywords

XML; automata theory; gait analysis; legged locomotion; robot programming; XML script language; distributed across modules; embedded microprocessors; event driven state automation; initial phase delay; locomotion gaits; modular reconfigurable robots; phase automata; programming interface; programming model; robustness; scalable chain type modular robots; Automata; Automatic programming; Automatic testing; Delay; Hardware; Personal communication networks; Robot programming; Robotics and automation; Robustness; XML;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2003. (IROS 2003). Proceedings. 2003 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on

Print_ISBN

0-7803-7860-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IROS.2003.1249236

Filename

1249236