Modular robot using helical magnet for bonding and transformation

Abstract

A self-reconfigurable modular robotic system has potential to carry out a wide variety of tasks in various fields and conditions. For realizing such versatileness and robustness, the compositional modules have to be designed so that the combined structure is equipped with high degree of freedom of the self-reconfiguration. We propose a new design of a modular robot using helically magnetized axes. The axes are arranged at all of the edges of the cubic-shaped module and contribute to both connection and transformation among the modules. The mechanism enables the modules to construct a 3-D orthogonal lattice structure, execute slide movement to neighboring vacant grid positions, and change the structural configuration by themselves. This paper firstly describes the conceptual design and fabrication method of the helically magnetized axis. Then, total design and specification of the module are explained. Finally, experimental results to evaluate the performance of connection and transformation are presented.