Mobile robots working in special environment have to adapt for unknown and complex environment characteristics, so high mobility, functional versatility and robustness of mobile robots are required. Different from specialized robot designed for single function in single environment, single unit of modular reconfigurable robots has simple mechanical structure, flexible movement and maneuverability; meanwhile, the combination of multiple units has flexible and versatile configuration, combined with distributed control and swarm intelligence algorithm to gain environmental adaptability and functional versatility of the entire reconfigurable robot system. Single unit of modular mobile reconfigurable robots could complete lightweight tasks such as transporting medicines, distributing and accompanying nurses. Meanwhile, the combination of multiple units could complete heavyweight tasks such as transporting patients and large medical equipment. Modular mobile reconfigurable robot system has broad application prospects in the field of medical auxiliary robots.

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Correction for ‘Analysis of the effects of acoustic levitation to simulate the microgravity environment on the development of early zebrafish embryos’ by Li Li et al., RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 44593–44600, DOI: 10.1039/D0RA07344J.