Self-Reconfigurable Robots for Adaptive and Multifunctional Tasks

Abstract

Self-reconfigurable modular robots are metamorphic systems that can autonomously change their logical or physical configurations (such as shapes, sizes, or formations), as well as their locomotion and manipulation, based on the mission and the environment in hand. Because of their modularity, versatility, self-healing ability and low cost reproducibility, such robots provide a flexible approach for achieving complex tasks in unstructured and dynamic environments. This paper gives an overview of an existing self-reconfigurable robot called SuperBot, and describes its control method for diverse behaviors, its self-reconfigurable connectors, and some experimental results for adaptive and multifunctional tasks for Army applications. 1.