Distributed motion planning for modular robots with unit-compressible modules

Abstract

The ability of self-reconfigurable robots to solve a variety of robot tasks comes in part from their use of a large number of modules. Effective use of these systems requires parallel actuation and planning, both for efficiency and independence from a central controller. This paper presents the PacMan algorithm, a technique for distributed actuation and planning. This algorithm was developed for systems with unit-compressible modules, such as the crystalline robot. We also describe some analytical properties of the PacMan planning and actuation, and discuss simulation and hardware experiments.