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Modular self-assembling and self-reconfiguring e-pucks

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Abstract

In this paper, we present the design of a new structural extension for the e-puck mobile robot. The extension may be used to transform what is traditionally a swarm robotics platform into a self-reconfigurable modular robotic system. We introduce a modified version of a previously developed collective locomotion algorithm and present new experimental results across three different themes. We begin by investigating how the performance of the collective locomotion algorithm is affected by the size and shape of the robotic structures involved, examining structures containing up to nine modules. Without alteration to the underlying algorithm, we then analyse the implicit self-assembling and self-reconfiguring capabilities of the system and show that the novel use of ‘virtual sensors’ can significantly improve performance. Finally, by examining a form of environment driven self-reconfiguration, we observe the behaviour of the system in a more complex environment. We conclude that the modular e-puck extension represents a viable platform for investigating collective locomotion, self-assembly and self-reconfiguration.

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Notes

  1. http://www.swarm-bots.org/.

  2. http://www.swarmanoid.org/.

  3. http://www.symbrion.eu/.

  4. http://www.replicators.eu/.

  5. http://www.makerbot.com/support/thingomatic/.

  6. For 1A, there is a bias towards the left-hand side of the arena. This is due to the fact that, in this experiment, the heading of the robot was kept the same across all runs.

  7. It would be easy to achieve ‘better’ coverage by using fewer squares; however, the purpose of this experiment was to compare the coverage of different configurations, not to measure the overall performance. We therefore deliberately chose a value that was large enough to ensure that no configuration was able to achieve a score of 1.0.

  8. http://www.elec.york.ac.uk/research/projects/Modular_e_puck_Extension.html.

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the SYMBRION project, within the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Project no. FP7-ICT-2007.8.2, grant agreement 216342. Jon Timmis is partially supported by the Royal Society. The authors would like to thank the reviewers for their detailed and comprehensive comments, which greatly helped to improve the quality of this manuscript.

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  1. Intelligent Systems Group, Department of Electronics, The University of York, York, UK

    Lachlan Murray, Jon Timmis & Andy Tyrrell

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  1. Lachlan Murray
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Correspondence to Jon Timmis.

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Environment Driven Self-reconfiguration (MP4 33.1 MB)

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Murray, L., Timmis, J. & Tyrrell, A. Modular self-assembling and self-reconfiguring e-pucks. Swarm Intell 7, 83–113 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11721-013-0082-y

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