The Conro Modules for Reconfigurable Robots

Andres Castano, Alberto Behar, and Peter Will. The Conro Modules for Reconfigurable Robots. IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatronics, 7(4):403–409, December 2002.

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Abstract

The goal of the Conro Project is to build deployable modular robots that can reconfigure into different shapes such as snakes or hexapods. Each Conro module is, itself, a robot and hence a Conro robot is actually a multirobot system. In this paper we present an overview of the Conro modules, the design approach, an overview of the mechanical and electrical systems and a discussion on size versus power requirement of the module. Each module is self-contained; it has its own processor, power supply, communication system, sensors and actuators. The modules, although self-contained, were designed to work in groups, as part of a large modular robot. We conclude the paper by describing some of the robots that we have built using the Conro modules and describing the miniature custom-made Conro camera as an example of the type of sensors that can be carried as payload by these robots.

BibTeX Entry

@Article{	  castano2002the-conro-modules-for-reconfigurable-robots,
  abstract	= {The goal of the Conro Project is to build deployable
		  modular robots that can reconfigure into different shapes
		  such as snakes or hexapods. Each Conro module is, itself, a
		  robot and hence a Conro robot is actually a multirobot
		  system. In this paper we present an overview of the Conro
		  modules, the design approach, an overview of the mechanical
		  and electrical systems and a discussion on size versus
		  power requirement of the module. Each module is
		  self-contained; it has its own processor, power supply,
		  communication system, sensors and actuators. The modules,
		  although self-contained, were designed to work in groups,
		  as part of a large modular robot. We conclude the paper by
		  describing some of the robots that we have built using the
		  Conro modules and describing the miniature custom-made
		  Conro camera as an example of the type of sensors that can
		  be carried as payload by these robots. },
  author	= {Andres Castano and Alberto Behar and Peter Will},
  journal	= {{IEEE/ASME} Trans.\ Mechatronics},
  keywords	= { self-reconfiguration},
  month		= dec,
  number	= {4},
  pages		= {403--409},
  title		= {The {Conro} Modules for Reconfigurable Robots},
  volume	= {7},
  year		= {2002}
}