MODULAR ROBOTICS

Submitted by

STUDENT NAME : Mohammad Faaiz

ROLL NO : 62
BRANCH/SECTION : Mechanical
REG. NO : 160909454
E-MAIL ID : mdfaaiz24@gmail.com
CONTACT NO. : +91-8296539907

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING

MANIPAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

(A constituent Institute of MAHE)
MANIPAL - 576 104, KARNATAKA, INDIA
 Modular Robotics

INDEX
S.No. Contents Page No.

1. Introduction 2

1.2 History 4

1.3 Motivation for development 5

and Inspiration

2. Structure 7

2.1 Classification 8

3. Application areas 12

3.1 Space Exploration 12

3.2 Bucket of stuff 13

4. Opportunities and 14
challenges

4.1 Planning and control 14

challenge

4.2 Hardware design challenge 15

4.3 Application challenge 16

5. Conclusion 16

6. References 17

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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 What are self-reconfigurable modular robots?

Self-reconfigurable modular robots are autonomous kinematic machines with

variable morphology.

Apart from the classical actuations, detection and control generally encountered in

robots with fixed morphology, self-reconfigurable robots are also able to

deliberately modify their own shape by rearranging the connectivity of their parts,

in order to adapt to new circumstances, performing new tasks or recover from

damages.

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Self-reconfiguring here means that the mechanism or device is able to use its own

control system, such as an actuator, to modify its overall structural shape. Having

this quality means that the same module or the same set of modules can be added

or removed from the system, instead of being generically "modularized" at large.

The underlying intention is to have an indefinite number of identical modules, or a

finite and relatively small set of identical modules, in a mesh or matrix structure of

modules that are self-reconfigurable.

For example, the robot can take the form of a worm like structure to crawl through

a duct or a pipe, or disassemble into smaller parts to move through crevices and

contours with twists and turns.

1.2 History

The roots of the concept of modular self-reconfigurable robots go back to the "quick

change" end effector and the automatic tool changers in numerically controlled

machining centers in the 1970s. Here, special modules, each with a common

connection mechanism could be replaced automatically at the end of a robot arm.

Toshio Fukuda introduced the basic concept of the common connection

mechanism and applied it to the entire robot in the late 1980s with the CEBOT

(short for Cellular Robot).

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In the early 1990s, Greg Chirikjian, Mark Yim, Joseph Michael, and Satoshi Murata

continued to develop these further. Chirikjian, Michael and Murata developed

lattice reconfiguration systems and Yim developed a chain-based system. While

these researchers began with a mechanical engineering focus, designed and built

modules, and then developed code to program them, the work of Daniela Rus and

Wei-min Shen developed hardware, but had a greater impact on programming

aspects. They began a trend towards detectable or verifiable distributed algorithms

for controlling a large number of modules.

One of the more interesting hardware platforms recently has been the MTRAN II

and III systems developed by Satoshi Murata et al. This system is a hybrid chain

and lattice system. It has the advantage of being able to achieve tasks more easily

like chain systems, yet reconfigure like a lattice system.

1.3 Motivation for development and inspiration

There are two main motives for designing modular self-reconfiguring robotic

systems.

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 Functional Advantage - Self-reconfiguring robotic systems may be more

robust and adaptable than conventional systems. The reconfiguration

capability allows a robot or group of robots to disassemble and reassemble

machines to form new morphologies that are more suitable for new tasks,

such as switching from a legged robot to a snake robot (snake bot) and then

to a rolling robot. Since robot parts are interchangeable (within a robot and

between different robots), machines can also autonomously replace faulty

parts, resulting in self-repair.

 Economic Advantage - Self-reconfiguring robotic systems can potentially

reduce the overall cost of the robot by making a series of complex machines

from a single (or relatively few) type of series module that can be mass

produced.

Both advantages have not been fully realized yet. It is likely that a modular

robot will be inferior in performance than a single custom robot tailored to a

specific task. The advantage of modular robotics, however, is only apparent

when considering multiple tasks that would normally require a set of different

robots.

The additional degrees of freedom make modular robots more versatile in

their potential capabilities, but also cause loss of performance and increased

mechanical and computational complexity.

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The quest for self-reconfiguring robotic structures is to some extent inspired

by planned applications such as long-term space missions, which require a

long-term, self-sustaining robotic ecology that can handle unforeseen

situations and possibly require self-repair. A second source of inspiration are

biological systems that are self-constructed out of a relatively small repertoire

of lower-level building blocks (cells or amino acids, depending on scale of

interest). This architecture underlies biological systems' ability to physically

adapt, grow, heal, and even self-replicate – capabilities that would be

desirable in many engineered systems.

2. STRUCTURE

Modular robots usually comprise of several building blocks of a relatively small

range of blocks with unified docking interfaces that enable the transmission of

electrical power, and communication throughout the robot, mechanical forces and

moments.

The building blocks generally comprise of a primary structural unit and perhaps

additional specialized units such as wheels, cameras, feet, grippers, payload and

energy storage and production.

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2.1 Classification

Modular robots are usually classified into chain-type, lattice-type, or hybrid-type

architectures.

1. Chain Type

Chain-type architectures consist of modules that are connected together in a linear

or tree topology. This structure can fold-up to become space filling, but the

underlying architecture is serial.

Fig.1 Chain type robot self-reconfiguring from snake

configuration to four legged walker configuration

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Modular robots which are designed to navigate in different and unknown

environments (e.g., in rescue or space exploration missions), where a modular

Fig.2 PolyBot

Robot needs to change its configuration to avoid obstacles, to pass through narrow

openings, to climb up or down steep slopes, and so on, follow the chain-type

architecture. Ex – PolyBot, M-TRAN I.

Metamorphosis of M-TRAN III

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2. Lattice type

A lattice – type robot has modules arranged in a regular three-dimensional (3D)

pattern, such as a cubic or hexagonal grid. Modular lattice-type robots are

inherently self-reconfigurable because reconfiguration is the only means of

locomotion.

Lattice architecture have their units connecting their docking interfaces at points

into virtual cells of some regular grid. This network of docking points can be

compared to atoms in a crystal and the grid to the lattice of that crystal/

Molecube

Therefore, the kinematical features of lattice robots can be characterized by their

corresponding crystallographic displacement groups (chiral space groups). Usually

few units are sufficient to accomplish a reconfiguration step. Lattice architectures

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allows a simpler mechanical design and a simpler computational representation

and reconfiguration planning that can be more easily scaled to complex systems.

3. Hybrid Type

Hybrid-type architectures have features of both lattice-type and chain-type

architectures. Some modular robot can be classified as hybrid-type because they

can be configured both as chain and as lattice structures. M-TRAN, Superbot,

SMORES, and Roombots are examples of hybrid-type modular robots.

SuperBot

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3. APPLICATION AREAS

3.1 Space Exploration

One application that highlights the benefits of self-configurable systems is long-

term space missions. These require a long-term, self-sustaining robotic ecology

that can handle unforeseen situations and possibly require self-repair.

Self-reconfigurable systems can handle tasks that are not known beforehand,

especially when compared to fixed configuration systems. In addition, space

missions are heavily volume and mass limited. Sending a robotic system that can

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be reconfigured to perform many tasks may be more effective than sending many

robots, each capable of completing a task.

Even more expensive than putting a spacecraft in orbit is landing one on

another planetary surface, since additional mass is required for landing

mechanisms and additional fuel for deceleration. Thus, the potential mass and

cost savings associated with modular robotics are even greater in this domain.

Once on the surface, useful capabilities include locomotion, instrument

placement and sample operations, and support of lunar and planetary bases

.In addition to the module types that would be useful in space, there are a

number of surface specific types to consider. Special wheel modules could

allow efficient long-range locomotion, while force sensitive foot modules could

enable legged locomotion over rougher terrain. A range of scientific sensors,

drills, shovels, and other tools could be included as end-effector modules.

3.1 Bucket of Stuff

Another vision for these systems has been called "bucket of stuff". In this vision,

consumers of the future have a container of self-reconfigurable modules say in

their garage, basement, or attic. When the need arises, the consumer calls forth

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the robots to achieve a task such as "clean the gutters" or "change the oil in the

car" and the robot assumes the shape needed and does the task.

4. OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

Since the first demonstrations of early modular self-reconfiguring systems, size,

robustness, and performance have improved continuously. In parallel, planning

and control algorithms have been developed to handle thousands of units.

However, several key steps are needed for these systems to fulfill their promise

of adaptability, robustness and low cost. These steps can be broken down into

hardware design challenges, planning and control algorithms, and the application

4.1 Planning and control Challenge

Though algorithms have been developed for handling thousands of units in ideal

conditions, challenges to scalability remain both in low-level control and high-

level planning to overcome realistic constraints:

 Algorithms for parallel-motion for large scale manipulation and

locomotion.

 Algorithms for robustly handling a variety of failure modes, from

misalignments, dead-units (not responding, not releasing) to units that

behave erratically.

 Algorithms that determine the optimal configuration for a given task.

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 Algorithms for optimal (time, energy) reconfiguration plan.

 Efficient and scalable (asynchronous) communication among multiple

units.

4.2 Hardware design challenge

The extent to which the promise of self-reconfiguring robotic systems can be

realized depends critically on the numbers of modules in the system. To date,

only systems with up to about 50 units have been demonstrated, with this number

stagnating over almost a decade. There are a number of fundamental limiting

factors that govern this number:

 Limits on strength, precision, and field robustness (both mechanical and

electrical) of bonding/docking interfaces between modules

 Limits on motor power, motion precision and energetic efficiency of units,

(i.e. specific power, specific torque)

 Hardware/software design. Hardware that is designed to make the

software problem easier. Self-reconfiguring systems have more tightly

coupled hardware and software than any other existing system.

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4.3 Application challenge

Though the advantages of Modular self-reconfiguring robotic systems is largely

recognized, it has been difficult to identify specific application domains where

benefits can be demonstrated in the short term. Some suggested applications are

 Space exploration and Space colonization applications, e.g. Lunar

colonization

 Construction of large architectural systems

 Deep sea exploration/mining

 Search and rescue in unstructured environments

 Rapid construction of arbitrary tools under space/weight constraints

 Disaster relief shelters for displaced peoples

 Shelters for impoverished areas which require little on-the-ground

expertise to assemble

CONCLUSION

Over the past twenty years, the field of self-reconfigurable robots has

progressed a long way. Although there are many challenges, as increasing

numbers of researchers enter this field, more exciting work will be done and

the field of robotics will be revolutionized. The possibilities of modular self-

reconfiguring robots are endless.

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5. REFERENCES

1. http://cmsw.mit.edu/angles/2013/?page_id=451 Modular Self-Configurable

Robots, Author- Vincent Kee.

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-reconfiguring_modular_robot.

3. https://ti.arc.nasa.gov/m/pub-archive/1210h/1210%20(Hancher).pdf A

Modular Robotic System with Applications to Space Exploration.

4. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-0-387-
30440-3_334 Modular Self-Reconfigurable Robots, Authors - Mark Yim,
Paul White, Michael Park, Jimmy Sastra

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