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OpenKilo: A Truly Open-Source Kilobot Design Revision that Aids Repair and Extensibility

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Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS 2020)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 12228))

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Abstract

Physical robot platforms are an important tool in swarm robotics research, allowing algorithms to be validated and optimised under realistic conditions. The Kilobot is a widely used platform that was originally designed to be cheap and simple enough for research labs to produce themselves. However, existing designs are neither truly open-source nor amenable to repair. We present a revised Kilobot hardware design that specifically aids repair via hand-soldering while remaining compatible with previous designs. Our design was produced using open-source ECAD (Electronic Computer-Aided Design) software, and is freely available online. We hope that the editable schematic and printed circuit board (PCB) design will be of use to future Kilobot projects, and will contribute to the accessibility of swarm robotics in general.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://www.k-team.com/mobile-robotics-products/kilobot.

  2. 2.

    https://www.pads.com.

  3. 3.

    https://kicad-pcb.org.

  4. 4.

    https://www.eurocircuits.com.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK

    James W. Trump

  2. Department of Computer Science, University of York, York, UK

    Russell Joyce

  3. Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK

    Alan G. Millard

Authors
  1. James W. Trump
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  2. Russell Joyce
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  3. Alan G. Millard
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alan G. Millard .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Abdelkhalick Mohammad

  2. Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Xin Dong

  3. Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Matteo Russo

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Trump, J.W., Joyce, R., Millard, A.G. (2020). OpenKilo: A Truly Open-Source Kilobot Design Revision that Aids Repair and Extensibility. In: Mohammad, A., Dong, X., Russo, M. (eds) Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems. TAROS 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12228. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63486-5_36

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63486-5_36

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-63485-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-63486-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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