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Proceedings ArticleDOI

Detachable modular robot capable of cooperative climbing and multi agent exploration

TL;DR: A spring is designed and used in the modular robot taking the worst-case-scenario of stairs encountered in an urban setting, and an additional set of actuators per module are introduced to enable the detachment and re-attachment.
Abstract: At the cross section of the fields of Uneven Terrain Navigation and Multi Agent Systems (MAS), in this work, a Detachable Compliant Modular Robot (DCMR) which can perform concurrent scene exploration by detaching into numerous parts, while preserving its ability to climb stairs is proposed and built. A spring is designed and used in the modular robot taking the worst-case-scenario of stairs encountered in an urban setting. In addition to the actuators at the wheels, an additional set of actuators per module are introduced to enable the detachment and re-attachment. The design additions and their trade-offs are discussed. Potential applications are presented with special focus on improving coverage of a map with obstacles/slabs large enough to merit exploration by climbing them. The problem of turning in crammed spaces is solved using the ability to detach of DCMR. The detaching & re-attaching capability, and stair climbing of the composite modular robot are demonstrated through experimentation using the prototype.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Mar 2021
TL;DR: The modelling and simulation of a six wheeled three body modular robot in MATLAB Simulink was able to predict the response of the modular body in different configurations in terms of velocity and distance with contact forces acting upon it.
Abstract: This paper presents the modelling and simulation of a six wheeled three body modular robot in MATLAB Simulink. The modules are modelled as an independent differential drive wheeled mobile robot. Velocity and distance were measured using three different configurations: two wheel, four wheel and six wheel configuration. The simulation result was able to predict the response of the modular body in different configurations in terms of velocity and distance with contact forces acting upon it.

4 citations


Cites background or methods from "Detachable modular robot capable of..."

  • ...As mentioned in [5-7] they have certain advantages and disadvantages when they are in a collective manner or as an individual....

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  • ...Several researches use a six or more wheel configuration design for climbing, transport and exploration [5-7]....

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  • ...The concept of [5] is to develop a detachable modular robot capable of cooperative climbing and multi agent exploration and will improve the task and exploration coverage but there are a variety of optimal control problems that might pose in this system....

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Proceedings ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: The proposed work bridges these tasks by allowing a tracked ground robot exploring a floor to find the position where it should begin its climb on the identified staircase, by using point cloud data obtained from an RGBD camera.
Abstract: Multi-floor autonomous robot navigation involves climbing staircases and exploring all the floors in a building using the onboard sensors. While some works investigate the method of exploring indoor floors, other works address the issues in staircase navigation. The proposed work bridges these tasks by allowing a tracked ground robot exploring a floor to find the position where it should begin its climb on the identified staircase. Ideally, such a position is before the first step on the mid line of a staircase, with sufficient space on the floor for the robot to fit in. Various geometric considerations, statistical measurements and randomized algorithms are combined to compute the start-of-stair position from point cloud data obtained from an RGBD camera. An efficient slope finding method is developed to detect the slope containing the staircase. The stair-center on the plane is then computed. The stair bottom, and eventually the start-of-stair position is computed based on the intersection of stair and ground planes. Results are presented on single RGBD frames as well as accumulated point cloud obtained from a mapping algorithm. The scope of error in the initial detection is also analyzed and sample results indicate that the point cloud processing can overcome spatial errors in the initial detection over a considerable margin.

1 citations


Cites background from "Detachable modular robot capable of..."

  • ...The design of such platforms is also constrained by locomotion on stairs [6] [7], odometry in presence of 3D motion and slippages, mapping across floors for alignment of floor maps [8], etc....

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References
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Book
02 Apr 2007
TL;DR: JADE (Java Agent Development Framework) is a software framework to make easy the development of multi-agent applications in compliance with the FIPA specifications and can be considered a middle-ware that implements an efficient agent platform and supports theDevelopment of multi agent systems.
Abstract: JADE (Java Agent Development Framework) is a software framework to make easy the development of multi-agent applications in compliance with the FIPA specifications. JADE can then be considered a middle-ware that implements an efficient agent platform and supports the development of multi agent systems. JADE agent platform tries to keep high the performance of a distributed agent system implemented with the Java language. In particular, its communication architecture tries to offer flexible and efficient messaging, transparently choosing the best transport available and leveraging state-of-the-art distributed object technology embedded within Java runtime environment. JADE uses an agent model and Java implementation that allow good runtime efficiency, software reuse, agent mobility and the realization of different agent architectures.

2,353 citations


"Detachable modular robot capable of..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Distributed systems such as those presented in [13], [14], [15] have solved the offline as well as online planning problems in MAS....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The boustrophedon cellular decomposition is a generalization of the trapezoidal decomposition that could allow for non-polygonalobstacles, but also has the side effect of having more “efficient” coverage paths than the Trapezoid decomposition.
Abstract: Coverage path planning is the determination of a path that a robot must take in order to pass over each point in an environment. Applications include de-mining, floor scrubbing, and inspection. We developed the boustrophedon cellular decomposition, which is an exact cellular decomposition approach, for the purposes of coverage. Essentially, the boustrophedon decomposition is a generalization of the trapezoidal decomposition that could allow for non-polygonal obstacles, but also has the side effect of having more “efficient” coverage paths than the trapezoidal decomposition. Each cell in the boustrophedon decomposition is covered with simple back and forth motions. Once each cell is covered, then the entire environment is covered. Therefore, coverage is reduced to finding an exhaustive path through a graph which represents the adjacency relationships of the cells in the boustrophedon decomposition. This approach is provably complete and experiments on a mobile robot validate this approach.

403 citations


"Detachable modular robot capable of..." refers background or methods in this paper

  • ...More powerfully, the decomposition methods shown in [18], [19] and [20] have yielded algorithms that solve the offline motion planning to maximize coverage while avoiding obstacles in maps....

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  • ...Various coverage algorithms have been proposed in the past [18], [19] and [20]....

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Proceedings ArticleDOI
10 Dec 2007
TL;DR: To create the Super Servo, the author has replaced the electronics in a hobby servo with such components as sensors to monitor current and temperature, a communications bus, and a programmable microcontroller, to create a robust and versatile robot.
Abstract: Many factors such as size, power, and weight constrain the design of modular snake robots. Meeting these constraints requires implementing a complex mechanical and electrical architecture. Here we present our solution, which involves the construction of sixteen aluminum modules and creation of the Super Servo, a modified hobby servo. To create the Super Servo, we have replaced the electronics in a hobby servo, adding such components as sensors to monitor current and temperature, a communications bus, and a programmable microcontroller. Any robust solution must also protect components from hazardous environments such as sand and brush. To resolve this problem we insert the robots into skins that cover their surface. Functions such as climbing the inside and outside of a pipe add a new dimension of interaction. Thus we attach a compliant, high-friction material to every module, which assists in tasks that require gripping. This combination of the mechanical and electrical architectures results in a robust and versatile robot.

268 citations


"Detachable modular robot capable of..." refers background in this paper

  • ...In addition to ground vehicles like [1], the state of the art in unstructured terrain navigation, has spawned many climbing robots such as the Shrimp [2], modular robots like [3], [4], [5], [6]....

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Proceedings ArticleDOI
17 Feb 2000
TL;DR: Shrimp as discussed by the authors is a high mobility wheeled rover for uneven terrain off-road that uses passive locomotion concept robot on uneven terrain, and is based on the SHRIMP concept.
Abstract: Keywords: passive locomotion concept robot uneven terrain off-road ; SHRIMP : High Mobility Wheeled Rover Reference LSA-CONF-2000-003View record in Web of Science Project Web Site: http://asl.epfl.ch/research/systems/shrimp/shrimp.php Record created on 2006-12-07, modified on 2016-08-08

156 citations


"Detachable modular robot capable of..." refers background in this paper

  • ...In addition to ground vehicles like [1], the state of the art in unstructured terrain navigation, has spawned many climbing robots such as the Shrimp [2], modular robots like [3], [4], [5], [6]....

    [...]

Proceedings ArticleDOI
18 Apr 2005
TL;DR: Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method can successfully navigate a UGV between pre-defined waypoints at high speed, while avoiding unknown hazards, and is suitable for on-board real-time implementation.
Abstract: This paper proposes a potential field-based method for high speed navigation of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) on uneven terrain. A potential field is generated in the two-dimensional “trajectory space” of the UGV path curvature and longitudinal velocity. Dynamic constraints, terrain conditions, and navigation conditions can be expressed in this space. A maneuver is chosen within a set of performance bounds, based on the potential field gradient. In contrast to traditional potential field methods, the proposed method is subject to local maximum problems, rather than local minimum. It is shown that a simple randomization technique can be employed to address this problem. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method can successfully navigate a UGV between pre-defined waypoints at high speed, while avoiding unknown hazards. Further, vehicle velocity and curvature are controlled to avoid rollover and excessive side slip. The method is computationally efficient, and thus suitable for on-board real-time implementation.

138 citations


"Detachable modular robot capable of..." refers background in this paper

  • ...In addition to ground vehicles like [1], the state of the art in unstructured terrain navigation, has spawned many climbing robots such as the Shrimp [2], modular robots like [3], [4], [5], [6]....

    [...]