10 accepted papers
In this paper, we explore the field of self-reconfigurable modular robots, representing a significant advance in robotic technology. These robots have many capabilities, offering high adaptability and flexibility for a variety of applications. However, computing the stability is challenging as it is
Localizing each module in a modular self-reconfigurable robot (MSR) is of paramount importance. In MSR, the communication graph is directly mapped to the real topology which makes the localization problem easy to solve. However, some types of connectors can lose the orientation of the modules, makin…
In this paper, we propose a new self-reconfiguration scheme for modular robots based on a metamodule design that allows to form a 3D porous structure. The porous structure enables a parallel flow of modules inside it without blocking. The metamodule can also be used to fill its internal volume with…
Programmable matter is a material that can change its physical properties at will, whether it is its shape, density or conductivity. It can be implemented as an ensemble of micro-robots arranged in space to form a specific shape and having their own computing power. This technology behaves as a dist…
This paper addresses the self-reconfiguration problem in large-scale modular robots for the purpose of shape formation for object representation. It aims to show that this process can be accelerated without compromising on the visual aspect of the final object, by creating an internal skeleton of th…
Modular robots are autonomous systems with variable morphology, composed of independent connected computational elements, called particles or modules. Due to critical resource constraints and limited capabilities, globally unique identifier (ID) assignment to each particle is a very challenging task…
Modular robots are defined as autonomous kinematic machines with variable morphology. They are composed of several thousands or even millions of modules which are able to coordinate in order to behave intelligently. Clustering the modules in modular robots has many benefits, including scalability, e…
Distributed self-reconfiguration in large-scale modular robots is a slow process and increasing its speed a major challenge. In this article, we propose an improved and asynchronous version of a previously proposed distributed self-reconfiguration algorithm to build a parametric scaffolding structur…
Among the diversity of the existing modular robotic systems, we consider in this paper the subset of distributed modular robotic ensembles composed of resource-constrained identical modules that are organized in a lattice structure and which can only communicate with neighboring modules. These modul…
Modular robots are composed of many independent connected modules which are able to achieve common goals through communications. Many distributed algorithms have better performance if the modules that have to communicate with all the others, are placed at the center of the system. In this paper, we…