Survey on research and development of reconfigurable modular robots

Abstract

This article presents a comprehensive survey of reconfigurable modular robots, which covers the origin, history, the state of the art, key technologies, challenges, and applications of reconfigurable modular robots. An elaborative classification of typical reconfigurable modular robots is proposed based on the characteristics of the modules and the reconfiguration mechanism. As the system characteristics of reconfigurable modular robots are mainly dependent on the functions of modules, the mechanical and electrical design features of modules of typical reconfigurable modular robots are discussed in detail. Furthermore, an in-depth comparison analysis is conducted, which encompasses discussions of module shape, module degrees of freedom, module attribute, connection mechanisms, interface autonomy, locomotion modes, and workspace. Meanwhile, many reconfigurable modular robot researches focus on the study of self-X capabilities (i.e. self-reconfiguration, self-assembly, self-adaption, etc.), which embodies autonomy performance of reconfigurable modular robots in certain extent. An evolutionary cobweb evaluation model is proposed in this article to evaluate the autonomy level of reconfigurable modular robots. Although various reconfigurable modular robots have been developed and some of them have been put into practical applications such as search and rescue missions, there still exist many open theoretical, technical, and practical challenges in this field. This work is hopefully to offer a reference for the further developments of reconfigurable modular robots.

Effortless creation of safe robots from modules through self-programming and self-verification

“…Comparison with non-modular robots Modular robots have many obvious advantages with respect to flexibility, maintenance, and cost efficiency compared with standard robots. (i) Flexibility: Modular robots can be easily adapted to current needs and enable flexible manufacturing (44,85,86). (ii) Maintenance: Flexible robots are easier to maintain because broken modules can be easily replaced (1,44).…”

“…Very few previous works considered heterogeneous modules and their dynamic properties for the automatic synthesis of modular robots. We do not survey works on identical modules because robots assembled from these are typically not aimed for industrial use (1,44,45).…”

Terramechanics Modeling and Grouser Optimization for Multistage Adaptive Lateral Deformation Tracked Robot

“…[6][7][8]; deformable tracked robots include TSSTV, AMOEBA-I, RESCUER, etc. [9][10]. Although current reconnaissance and rescue robots have their own characteristics, they cannot enter spaces that are smaller than their own widths due to their mechanical structure, dimensions, driving force, and other factors.…”

A Designation of Modular Mobile Reconfigurable Platform System

“…1 The MRR system can be divided into modular restructured type and modular mobile type according to the independent mobile ability of the module. 2 As modular restructured-type systems, each individual §, ¶ Corresponding authors. This is an Open Access article published by World Scientific Publishing Company.…”