<i>Self-Reconfigurable Robots—An Introduction.</i> Kasper Stoy, David Brandt, and David J. Christensen. (2010, MIT Press.) $35.00, £24.95, 224 pages.

摘要

A self-reconfigurable robot is a robot that is made up of a number of physically connected modules that can rearrange their connections to change the global shape of the robot. Given their morphological flexibility, self-reconfigurable robots have the potential to display a high degree of versatility: to move fast on flat terrain, modules may reconfigure into a circular shape and roll; to move in confined spaces, the modules may reconfigure into a snake and creep; and to manipulate an object, the modules may reconfigure into a shape specialized to the characteristics of the object and/or to the type of manipulation required.Research on self-reconfigurable robots started in the late 1980s when the idea of cellular robots emerged [3]. The vision was to develop a system of autonomous cells that could jointly form different shapes to accomplish tasks. Over the past two decades, significant progress has been made and several self-reconfigurable robots have been built.The book Self-Reconfigurable Robots—An Introduction by Stoy, Brandt, and Christensen is the first book on self-reconfigurable robots to appear. The authors have divided the material into 10 chapters covering topics ranging from the history of self-reconfigurable robotics and hardware to different approaches to self-reconfiguration and future research challenges. The book is aimed at graduate students and researchers. The material is, however, presented in language and at a level of technical detail that allow anyone with an interest in self-reconfigurable robots to enjoy the book.Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the field of self-reconfigurable robotics by providing two possible scenarios in which such robots could be particularly useful: (i) a planetary exploration scenario, in which a self-reconfigurable robot's morphological flexibility enables it to navigate in different environments, and (ii) a morphing production line scenario, in which reconfigurable robots autonomously assemble furniture. The authors then present examples of two self-reconfigurable robots, namely the CONRO [2] and the ATRON [5]. A brief history of self-reconfigurable robots is then provided. The history starts at Fukuda's CEBOT [3] concept and Yim's PolyPod [7]; some of the more recent systems covered include Shen et al.'s SuperBot [6] and Zykov et al.'s Molecubes [8]. The authors propose an interesting classification for self-reconfigurable robotic systems, based on the number of modules in the system: pack robots consisting of tens of modules, herd robots consisting of hundreds of modules, and swarm robots consisting of very large numbers of modules. The classification is justified by two observations: (i) systems of different sizes tend to be suitable for different tasks, and (ii) different types of control are appropriate for systems of different sizes.Chapter 2 is titled “Designing Self-Reconfigurable Robots.” In this chapter, the authors stress the interdependences between hardware, control, morphology, task(s), and environment(s). Some of the tradeoffs that have to be made in the design of self-reconfigurable robotic systems are also discussed. A distinction is made between design goals and characteristics of systems. Versatility, adaptability, robustness, and cheapness are listed as desirable design goals for most robotic systems, whereas systems can be characterized according to their degrees of reconfigurability, scalability, and responsiveness, and how well they meet the functional requirements in their domain of application. Although the distinction between design goals and characteristics seems slightly arbitrary (systems could arguably be categorized according to their degree of robustness, while scalability could be a design goal for some systems, for instance), the discussion of the individual items is relevant and provides valuable insight to system designers.Chapter 3 focuses on the mechanical design of self-reconfigurable robotic systems. The purpose of the chapter, as stat