20 accepted papers
We introduce Phantom Twist, a type of single-propeller UAV designed to achieve low visibility through high-speed spinning and the exploitation of motion blur. We develop a two-stage automated design pipeline that optimizes the placement of functional components including batteries, control PCB, moto…
Spherical robots typically require at least two actuators to achieve controlled 2D planar motion. Here we present Rollbot, the first spherical robot capable of controllably maneuvering on a 2D plane with a single actuator, challenging this assumption. Rollbot rolls on the ground in a circular patter…
Communication and position sensing are among the most important capabilities for swarm robots to interact with their peers and perform tasks collaboratively. However, the hardware required to facilitate communication and position sensing is often too complicated, expensive, and bulky to be carried o…
Human-swarm interaction is facilitated by a low-dimensional encoding of the swarm formation, independent of the (possibly large) number of robots. We propose using image moments to encode two-dimensional formations of robots. Each robot knows its pose and the desired formation moments, and simultane
We present the Maneuverable Piccolissimo 2 (MP2), an autonomous, controllable, single motor micro aerial vehicle (MAV). The small size of MP2 makes it safe to operate in the presence of humans, and its simple design facilitates the creation of large swarms of capable MAVs. MP2 is equipped with on-bo
FireAntV3 uses a refined version of the 3D Continuous Docks to attach to other such docks at any location at any orientation with simple control and without alignment. The robot improves upon previous FireAnt-series robots by redesigning the locomotion drive system to improve mechanical and attachme
Complexity, cost, and power requirements for the actuation of individual robots can play a large factor in limiting the size of robotic swarms. Here we present PCBot, a minimalist robot that can precisely move on an orbital shake table using a bi-stable solenoid actuator built directly into its PCB.…
This letter presents a decentralized algorithm that allows a swarm of identically programmed agents to cooperatively estimate their global poses using local range and bearing measurements. The design of our algorithm explicitly considers the phase asynchrony of each agent's local clock, moreover, th
This paper describes a distributed algorithm for computing the number of robots in a swarm, only requiring communication with neighboring robots. The algorithm can adjust the estimated count when the number of robots in the swarm changes, such as the addition or removal of robots. Probabilistic guar…
In this paper, we propose an abstraction that captures high-level formation and location-based swarm behaviors, and an automated control synthesis framework to generate correct-by-construction behaviors. Our abstraction includes symbols representing both possible formations and physical locations in…
Robotic self-assembly allows robots to join to form useful, on-demand structures. Unfortunately, the methods employed by most self-assembling robotic swarms compromise this promise of adaptability through their use of fixed docking locations, which impair a swarm's ability to handle imperfections in…
For multi-agent path finding (MAPF) problems, finding the optimal solution has been shown to be NP-Complete. Here we present WSCaS (Walk, Stop, Count, and Swap), a decentralized multi-agent path-finding algorithm that can provide theoretical completeness and optimality guarantees. That is, WSCaS is
In this paper, we present CPL-Sync, a certifiably correct algorithm to solve planar pose graph optimization (PGO) using the complex number representation. We formulate planar PGO as the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) on the product of unit complex numbers, and relax this nonconvex quadratic com…
Nature offers many examples of organisms coming together to form self-assembling structures. The attachment methods these organisms employ allow them to grab onto others' bodies, often without need for specific alignment or orientation, an ability absent from most existing robotic self-assembling st…
Specialization has always been a tool for work distribution and simplification in nature and in distributed robotics. We present a novel approach to use hardware specialization hierarchically to enhance the capabilities of a swarm without increasing complexity, allowing a numerous group of robots to…
Climbing robots have many potential applications including maintenance, monitoring, search and rescue, and self-assembly. While numerous climbing designs have been investigated, most are limited to stiff components. Flippy (Fig. 1) is a small, flipping biped robot with a soft, flexible body and on-b…
Local communication and sensing between individuals are frequently used for control in multi-robot systems. However, in current flying multi-robot systems, such as swarms of quadrotors, these abilities are often only emulated using global communication and global position sensing. This is mainly due…
Complexity, cost, and power requirements for actuation of individual robots are large factors in limiting the size of robotic swarms. Here we present a prototype robotic system that allows for externally powered motion in 2D without sacrificing individual autonomy, which simplifies the robot hardwar…
Self-folding provides an efficient way of creating complex 3D geometries from 2D composites. However, the precision of self-folding structures is often limited by the use of open-loop folding mechanisms. In this paper we demonstrate feedback-controlled self-folding using a shape memory polymer and o…
There is a widely recognized need for improved STEM education and increased technological literacy. Robots represent a promising educational tool with potentially large impact, due to their broad appeal and wide relevance; however, many existing educational robot platforms have cost as a barrier to…