Docking Design of Self-Reconfigurable Robot

Abstract

Docking design of self-reconfigurable robots is studied. Firstly, the self-reconfigurable robot is presented. Its basic module is designed, which is composed of a central cube and six rotary arms. Then, the novel docking mechanism of each module is designed. It is critical for the self-reconfigurable robot to discard any faulty modules for the self-repairing actions. The docking process is analyzed with the geometric method. The docking forces between two modules are described with the static equilibrium condition and the small motion's method. It shows that the reliability of the connection will be increased when the module's weight G is increased. It is important to finish the docking action in the self-reconfigurable robot. At last, a simulation of six-module and an experiment of three-module show that the modules can finish the docking process effectively.