Reconfigurable Robots for Distributed Robotics

Abstract

Small (roughly 116cm 3 ) "scout" robots with multiple movement capabilities are presented. Scouts contain a complement of sensors (cameras, vibration monitors, etc.) along with transmitters/receivers and microcontrollers for clandestine reconnaissance and other covert tasks. Scouts are teamed with larger "ranger" robots that have greater range, battery life, and computational resources. Together they form a distributed, reconfigurable robotic team. 1 Introduction Certain clandestine reconnaissance and surveillance tasks, along with other military functions in urban warfare, require the use of multiple small yet highly capable robots. The individual robots must be easily deployable and able to move efficiently yet traverse obstacles or uneven terrain. They must be able to sense their environment, act on their sensing, and report their findings. They must be able to be controlled in a coordinated manner. To support all of these requirements, we have designed a "scout" robot with a c...