Self-reconfiguration of PARTS: A parallel reconfiguration algorithm based on surface flow

Abstract

In this paper, we present a parallel reconfiguration algorithm for shape-shifting modular robots with a triangular structure. The reconfiguration planning is based on partitioning the robot’s surface into source and sink sections for modules, using the largest common topology as a reference. Reconfiguration is realized by a synchronous surface flow of modules guided by the prior determination of module sources and sinks. Individual reconfiguration steps are carried out by a multi-step optimization framework, ensuring that intermediate configurations required for topology changes are valid and collision-free. With a configuration containing n modules, the algorithm completes the reconfiguration in O(n) reconfiguration steps and allows for a distributed and asynchronous hardware implementation. We demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm on multiple example configurations and compare the results to other reconfiguration approaches.