Complex behaviors from local rules in modular self-reconfigurable robots

Abstract

We demonstrate how simple local rules, inspired by social insects, produce complex dynamic behaviors required for locomotion and navigation in modular self-reconfigurable robots. We show how systems made up of many modules respond dynamically to their environment, such as obstacles during navigation. We present control algorithms tested on simulation experiments of TeleCube, a new modular robot developed at Xerox PARC.