1999 Volume 42 Issue 1 Pages 195-202
This paper presents a novel concept of self-organizing collective robots with morphogenesis in a vertical plane.For physical reconfiguration of a swarm of robots against gravity, new types of mechanisms and control strategies are proposed and demonstrated.Basic feasibility of the mechanisms was confirmed through an experiment adopting four prototype robots.Each robot is composed of a body and a pair of arms.The body is equipped with permanent magnets for bonding with another robot.The arms change the bonding configuration by rotating and sliding motions.As for the control strategies, we proposed algorithms which can generate specific global formations of robots from local and minimum interactions between neighboring robots.It is shown that the proposed algorithms can successfully conduct the swarm of robots to the predetermined configurations.
JSME international journal. Ser. 1, Solid mechanics, strength of materials
JSME international journal. Ser. A, Mechanics and material engineering
JSME international journal. Ser. 3, Vibration, control engineering, engineering for industry
JSME international journal. Ser. C, Dynamics, control, robotics, design and manufacturing
JSME International Journal Series A Solid Mechanics and Material Engineering
JSME International Journal Series B Fluids and Thermal Engineering