Global locomotion from local interaction in self-reconfigurable robots

Kasper Støy, Wei-Min Shen, and Peter Will. Global locomotion from local interaction in self-reconfigurable robots. In Proc. 7th Intl. Conf. on Intelligent Autonomous Systems (IAS-7), pp. 309–316, 2002.

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Abstract

We present a general distributed control algorithm for achieving locomotion of a self-reconfigurable robot. In this algorithm each module continuously performs a cyclic sequence of actions with a period . When a specified fraction of this period has elapsed a signal is sent to all child modules. Upon receiving this signal the child module resets its action sequence making it delayed compared to its parent. The algorithm is minimal and robust to loss of synchronization signals and change in the number of modules. We show in three different experiments that the algorithm can be used to implement a caterpillar, a sidewinder, and a rolling wheel gait in a real self-reconfigurable robot consisting of eight modules.

BibTeX Entry

@InProceedings{	  stoy2002global-locomotion-from-local,
  abstract	= {We present a general distributed control algorithm for
		  achieving locomotion of a self-reconfigurable robot. In
		  this algorithm each module continuously performs a cyclic
		  sequence of actions with a period . When a specified
		  fraction of this period has elapsed a signal is sent to all
		  child modules. Upon receiving this signal the child module
		  resets its action sequence making it delayed compared to
		  its parent. The algorithm is minimal and robust to loss of
		  synchronization signals and change in the number of
		  modules. We show in three different experiments that the
		  algorithm can be used to implement a caterpillar, a
		  sidewinder, and a rolling wheel gait in a real
		  self-reconfigurable robot consisting of eight modules. },
  author	= {Kasper St{\o}y and Wei-Min Shen and Peter Will},
  booktitle	= {Proc. 7th Intl. Conf. on Intelligent Autonomous Systems
		  (IAS-7)},
  pages		= {309--316},
  title		= {Global locomotion from local interaction in
		  self-reconfigurable robots},
  year		= {2002}
}