M-TRAN II: Metamorphosis from a four-legged walker to a caterpillar

Abstract

We have been developing a self-reconfigurable modular robotic system (M-TRAN) which can make various 3-D configurations and motions. In the second prototype (M-TRAN II), various improvements are integrated in order to realize complicated reconfigurations and versatile whole body motions. Those are a reliable connection/detachment mechanism, on-board multi-computers, high speed inter-module communication system, low power consumption, precise motor control, etc. Programing environments are also integrated to design self-reconfiguration processes, to verify motions in dynamics simulation, and to realize distributed control on the hardware. Hardware design, developed software and experiments are presented in this paper.