Metamodule Control for the ATRON Self-Reconfigurable Robotic System

Abstract

This paper presents an approach for distributed control for the individual modules in the ATRON self-reconfigurable robotic system. The ATRON is a lattice-type module, which has a single degree of freedom. The system is reconfigured using metamodules, which are simple, consisting of only three modules. But they have far higher capabilities than a single module, because they can crawl relatively freely on the surface of other modules. We let the metamodules emerge from the structure and migrate from one place to another, before they die and become structure again. Then, by controlling the flow of metamodules, we can change the shape of the structure. We introduce three different algorithms for migration of metamodules on the structure, and show that by using these, we can make the structure change its shape significantly in a controllable manner.