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In a large-scale locality-driven network, knowing the state of a local area is sometimes necessary due to either interactions being local and driven by neighborhood proximity or the users being interested in the state of a certain region. We propose locality-aware predicates that aim at detecting a predicate within a specified area. We model the area of interest as the set of processes that are within...
This paper presents a thorough analysis of the computational complexity of optimal reconfiguration planning problem for chain-type modular robots, i.e. finding the least number of reconfiguration steps to transform from the initial configuration into the goal configuration. It establishes a formal proof that this problem is NP-complete, even if the configurations are acyclic. This result gives a compelling...
This paper presents a bio-inspired, distributed control algorithm called TENTACLES for a group of radio robots to move, self-configure and maintain communication between some critical entities (such as humans, command centers, or other systems) in an unknown environment. The basic idea is to direct robots' explorative movements to grow ??tentacles?? from entities and establish links when tentacles...
Flexible and reliable connection is critical for self-reconfiguration, self-assembly, or self-healing. However, most existing connection mechanisms suffer from a deficiency that a connection would seize itself if one end malfunctions or is out of service. To mitigate this limitation on self-healing, this paper presents a new SINGO connector that can establish or disengage a connection even if one...
Carrying heavy payloads is a challenging task for the modular robot, because its composing modules are relatively tiny and less strong compared with conventional robots. To accomplish this task, we attached passive rollers to the modular robot, and designed a wheeled locomotion gait called tricycleBot. The gait is inspired by paddling motion, and is implemented on the modular robot called SuperBot...
As the ability to produce a large number of small, simple robotic agents improves, it becomes essential to control the behavior of these robots in such a way that the sum of their actions gives rise to the desired overall result. These robots are modeled as homogeneous, distributed robots, with only one simple short range sensor. Our simple robots are tasked to form and hold a desired swarm shape,...
This paper presents a learning algorithm called surprise-based learning (SBL) capable of providing a physical robot the ability to autonomously learn and plan in an unknown environment without any prior knowledge of its actions or their impact on the environment. This is achieved by creating a model of the environment using prediction rules. A prediction rule describes the observations of the environment...
This paper presents a dynamic and distributed reconfiguration planning algorithm for chain-type self-reconfigurable robots, by which a robot can autonomously self-reconfigure from one arbitrary acyclic configuration to another in a distributed way. The novel features of this algorithm include: (1) an efficient representation for unlabeled complex configurations; (2) a distributed comparison to detect...
Superbot consists of Lego-like but autonomous robotic modules that can reconfigure into different systems for different tasks. Examples of configurable systems include rolling tracks or wheels (for efficient travel), spiders or centipedes (for climbing), snakes (for burrowing in ground), and climbers (for inspection and repair in space). This video shows several configurations and behaviors that are...
We present a distributed controller for the center of mass of a modular robot. This is useful for locomotion of a modular robot over uneven and unknown terrain. By controlling the center of mass, a robot can prevent itself from falling over. We present a distributed and decentralized algorithm that computes the mass properties of the robot. Additionally, each module also computes the mass properties...
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