Tetrobot: a modular approach to reconfigurable parallel robotics
Tetrobot: a modular approach to reconfigurable parallel robotics
The self-reconfiguring robotic molecule: design and control algorithms
WAFR '98 Proceedings of the third workshop on the algorithmic foundations of robotics on Robotics : the algorithmic perspective: the algorithmic perspective
Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization and Machine Learning
Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization and Machine Learning
An agent-based approach to the design of rapidly deployable fault-tolerant manipulators
An agent-based approach to the design of rapidly deployable fault-tolerant manipulators
Modular Reconfigurable Robots in Space Applications
Autonomous Robots
MFR (Multipurpose Field Robot) for installing construction materials
Autonomous Robots
The design of a representation and analysis method for modular self-reconfigurable robots
Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing
EDHMoR: Evolutionary designer of heterogeneous modular robots
Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence
Hi-index | 0.00 |
Robots are needed to perform important field tasks such as hazardous material clean-up, nuclear site inspection, and space exploration. Unfortunately their use is not widespread due to their long development times and high costs. To make them practical, a modular design approach is proposed. Prefabricated modules are rapidly assembled to give a low-cost system for a specific task.This paper described the modular design problem for field robots and the application of a hierarchical selection process to solve this problem. Theoretical analysis and an example case study are presented. The theoretical analysis of the modular design problem revealed the large size of the search space. It showed the advantages of approaching the design on various levels.The hierarchical selection process applies physical rules to reduce the search space to a computationally feasible size and a genetic algorithm performs the final search in a greatly reduced space. This process is based on the observation that simple physically based rules can eliminate large sections of the design space to greatly simplify the search.The design process is applied to a duct inspection task. Five candidate robots were developed. Two of these robots are evaluated using detailed physical simulation. It is shown that the more obvious solution is not able to complete the task, while the non-obvious asymmetric design develop by the process is successful.