Robustness and self-repair in modular robots

Abstract

This video shows an uncut sequence of a 15 module robot in a bi-pedal configuration subject to a variety of disturbances yet staying on task. As the robot walks, a large disturbance is introduced. A human kicks the robot in its midsection causing the robot to fall into three separate clusters of five modules. Each of these pieces diagnose their state sensing gravity and their connectedness. They each perform a self-righting maneuver, then begin to search for each other. This is a first demonstration towards the development of solving larger self-reassembly problems that include greater levels of randomization and entropy (more pieces more widely distributed.) The 2006 Robotics Science and Systems workshop on self-reconfigurable robots developed as one of the grand challenges for this area, the ability to survive and self-repair after an explosion. This work will push the technologies required for integrated sensing, localization, distributed control, under highly unstructured conditions.