Realization of Cooperative Motions by a Function-based Decentralized Control System for Reconfigurable Robots

Abstract

The conventional demand for robots in industrial fields has increased mainly to mass production; however, the demand nowadays is diverse in meeting high-variation and low-quantity production. To meet the trend, we have proposed a reconfigurable robot that can change its configuration easily. This paper deals with the control algorithm for a reconfigurable robot system. It is necessary that the algorithm should possess flexibility for the changes in robot configurations and tasks. Firstly, the basic structure of a reconfigurable robot consisting of local and central intelligence is described. Secondly, a control algorithm suited for the change in the robot configuration is explained. Then, the authors propose a function-based decentralized control system for reconfigurable robots and refer to the validity of the proposed system for the task change. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed system is confirmed by several experimental results.