Hormone-controlled metamorphic robots

Metamorphic robots with shape-changing capabilities provide a powerful and flexible approach to complex tasks in unstructured environments. However, due to their dynamic topology and decentralized configuration, metamorphic robots demand control mechanisms that go beyond those used by conventional robots. This paper builds on our previous results of hormone-based control, and develops a novel distributed control algorithm called CELL that can select, synchronize, and execute gaits and other reconfiguration actions without assuming any global configuration knowledge. This algorithm is flexible enough to deal with changes of configuration, and can resolve conflicts between locally selected actions and manage multiple active hormones for producing coherent global effects.

[1]  Wei-Min Shen,et al.  Hormone-based control for self-reconfigurable robots , 2000, AGENTS '00.

[2]  Arthur C. Sanderson,et al.  Dynamic rolling, locomotion planning, and control of an icosahedral modular robot , 2000, Proceedings. 2000 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2000) (Cat. No.00CH37113).

[3]  Andres Castano,et al.  Mechanical design of a module for reconfigurable robots , 2000, Proceedings. 2000 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2000) (Cat. No.00CH37113).

[4]  Tad Hogg,et al.  Multiagent control of self-reconfigurable robots , 2000, Proceedings Fourth International Conference on MultiAgent Systems.

[5]  James F. Allen.  Time and time again: The many ways to represent time , 1991, Int. J. Intell. Syst..

[6]  Eiichi Yoshida,et al.  A 3-D self-reconfigurable structure , 1998, Proceedings. 1998 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.98CH36146).

[7]  Craig D. McGray,et al.  The self-reconfiguring robotic molecule , 1998, Proceedings. 1998 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.98CH36146).

[8]  Toshio Fukuda,et al.  Cellular robotic system (CEBOT) as one of the realization of self-organizing intelligent universal manipulator , 1990, Proceedings., IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[9]  Wei-Min Shen,et al.  Hormones for Self-Reconfigurable Robots , 2000 .

[10]  Arthur C. Sanderson,et al.  Tetrobot family tree: modular synthesis of kinematic structures for parallel robotics , 1996, Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. IROS '96.

[11]  Daniela Rus,et al.  Algorithms for self-reconfiguring molecule motion planning , 2000, Proceedings. 2000 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2000) (Cat. No.00CH37113).

[12]  Mark H. Yim,et al.  Locomotion With A Unit-Modular Reconfigurable Robot , 1995 .

[13]  Christiaan J. J. Paredis,et al.  Design of modular fault tolerant manipulators , 1995 .

[14]  Gregory S. Chirikjian,et al.  Useful metrics for modular robot motion planning , 1997, IEEE Trans. Robotics Autom..

[15]  Marsette Vona,et al.  A basis for self-reconfiguring robots using crystal modules , 2000, Proceedings. 2000 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2000) (Cat. No.00CH37113).

[16]  Hirokazu Ihara,et al.  Autonomous Decentralized Computer Control Systems , 1984, Computer.

[17]  Eiichi Yoshida,et al.  Distributed formation control for a modular mechanical system , 1997, Proceedings of the 1997 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robot and Systems. Innovative Robotics for Real-World Applications. IROS '97.

[18]  Eiichi Yoshida,et al.  Hardware design of modular robotic system , 2000, Proceedings. 2000 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2000) (Cat. No.00CH37113).