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This paper presents the design and realization of a multimobile robot system joint locomotion (JL)-2, which features not only a docking and 3D posture-adjusting capability between three robots but also a multifunctional docking gripper. By combining a parallel mechanism and a cam gripper together, this paper develops a docking manipulator, which endows each robot with a simple but forceful grasping capability. Furthermore, the docking manipulator can overcome the possible aligning errors between two robots and interconnect them. A motorized spherical joint will be formed between two docked robots, which will enhance the locomotion flexibility of the whole system. The docking mechanism is discussed in detail, including the docking procedure and analyses of self-aligning ability. A series of experiments not only testify the basic performances of JL-2 but also reveal the limits of current prototype, e.g., the overconstraint connecting pattern, the unbalanced self-aligning performance, etc.

Autonomous docking is an essential capability for self-reconfigurable robots. In this paper, a measurement system based on ultrasonic sensors for measuring distance between two mobile modules is firstly introduced. Then, triangle localization arithmetic for measuring the relative position/orientation between two mobile modules to implement docking is analyzed. Considering inherent drawbacks of triangle localization arithmetic by experiments, a novel arithmetic of centering alignment based on the concept that the received ultrasonic signal intensity should be balanced when the two modules are centered and faced each other is proposed, and involved parameters are discussed and optimized. Following experiments indicate that the centering alignment arithmetic is high-efficiency and good-reliability and can implement the docking of JL-2 modules accurately. The centering alignment arithmetic proposed in this paper can be generally applied to other planar docking process.

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