Reconfigurable Modular Robot Adaptively Transforming a Mechanical Structure-Numerical Expression of Behavioral Rules for Structural Transformation-

This study develops a self-reconfigurable modular robot “CHOBIE II,” which changes its configuration to adapts to the load condition. Self-reconfiguration of modular robots is performed by cooperative actions of the constituent modules. Thus, the important point is how to express behavioral rules which regulate actions of each module. In this paper, we propose a new method which expresses the rules with numerical parameters. By applying this method, the rule of CHOBIE II can be expressed by 32 parameters. This paper demonstrates three kinds of self-reconfigurations realized by adjusting the parameters. This paper also discusses practical operations of CHOBIE II enabled by the new method.

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