Autonomous Reconfiguration in a
Self-Assembling Multi-Robot System


[ Abstract ] [ Video ] [ Publications ] [ Contact ]

  Abstract

Multi-robot self-assembling systems can, in theory, overcome the physical limitations of individual robots by connecting to each other to form particular physical structures (morphologies) relevant to specific tasks. Here, we show for the first time how robots in a real-world self-assembling system can autonomously self-assemble into and self-reconfigure between arbitrary morphologies. We use a distributed control paradigm. The robots are individually autonomous and homogeneous - they all independently execute the same control program. Inter-robot communication is strictly local. We show our technique working on real robots.


  Video



Real robots form a sequence of morphologies: Star - Line - Square - Star. Video has been speeded up 8x. Download this video in hires or lores .

Here is a link to view the star-line-square-star swarmorph-script control code to generate this reconfiguration sequence.

NB. In the final reconfiguration step, a single robot was running low on batteries and was therefore replaced by a fresh robot (executing the same homogeneous control code).

Simulated robots self-assemble into a square morphology, then reconfigure into 3 arrow morphologies. Download this video in hires or lores .

Here is a link to view the square-arrows swarmorph-script control code to generate this reconfiguration sequence.

Our dedicated simulation environment simulates all of the sensors used in our control code, and allows execution without modification of the same control code that is executed on the real robots.




  Publications

A paper on this study has been submitted to ANTS 2008.


This is the end - now go program a robot or a hundred...