Motion Generation for a Modular Robot

2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eiichi Yoshida ◽  
◽  
Satoshi Murata ◽  
Akiya Kamimura ◽  
Kohji Tomita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Difficult Problem ◽  
The Self ◽  
Modular Robot ◽  
Motion Generation ◽  
Improve Efficiency ◽  
Reconfigurable Robot ◽  
The Many ◽  
Multiple Module ◽  
Motion Generator

We discuss motion generation of a homogeneous modular robot called a Modular Transformer (M-TRAN). Modules are designed to be self-reconfigurable so a collection of modules can transform itself into a robotic structure. The motion generation of the self-reconfigurable robot presents a computationally difficult problem due to the many combinatorial possibilities for the module configuration, even though the module itself is simple, with 2 degrees of freedom. We describe a motion generation for a class of multimodule structures based on a motion planner and a motion scheduler. The motion planner has 2 layers, with a global planner to plan overall movement of the cluster and a local planner to determine locally coordinated module motions, called motion schemes. After motion is generated as a sequence of single motion schemes, the motion scheduler processes the output plan to allow parallel motions to improve efficiency. The effectiveness of the motion generator is verified through a multiple-module simulation.

Quantum genetic algorithm to evolve controllers for self-reconfigurable modular robots

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-435
Author(s):  
Mohamed Khalil Mezghiche ◽  
Noureddine Djedi
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Algorithms ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Optimization Problems ◽  
The Self ◽  
Modular Robots ◽  
Modular Robot ◽  
Adaptive Locomotion ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quantum Genetic Algorithm ◽  
Neural Controllers

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore using real-observation quantum genetic algorithms (RQGAs) to evolve neural controllers that are capable of controlling a self-reconfigurable modular robot in an adaptive locomotion task. Design/methodology/approach Quantum-inspired genetic algorithms (QGAs) have shown their superiority against conventional genetic algorithms in numerous challenging applications in recent years. The authors have experimented with several QGAs variants and real-observation QGA achieved the best results in solving numerical optimization problems. The modular robot used in this study is a hybrid simulated robot; each module has two degrees of freedom and four connecting faces. The modular robot also possesses self-reconfiguration and self-mobile capabilities. Findings The authors have conducted several experiments using different robot configurations ranging from a single module configuration to test the self-mobile property to several disconnected modules configuration to examine self-reconfiguration, as well as snake, quadruped and rolling track configurations. The results demonstrate that the robot was able to perform self-reconfiguration and produce stable gaits in all test scenarios. Originality/value The artificial neural controllers evolved using the real-observation QGA were able to control the self-reconfigurable modular robot in the adaptive locomotion task efficiently.

A Self-Reconfigurable Modular Robot: Reconfiguration Planning and Experiments

2002 ◽  
Vol 21 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 903-915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eiichi Yoshida ◽  
Satoshi Murata ◽  
Akiya Kamimura ◽  
Kohji Tomita ◽  
Haruhisa Kurokawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lower Layer ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Difficult Problem ◽  
Planning Method ◽  
Planning Problem ◽  
Modular Robot ◽  
Regular Structures ◽  
Reconfiguration Planning ◽  
Locomotion Mode ◽  
The Many

In this paper we address a reconfiguration planning method for locomotion of a homogeneous modular robotic system and we conduct an experiment to verify that the planned locomotion can be realized by hardware. Our recently developed module is self-reconfigurable. A group of the modules can thus generate various three-dimensional robotic structures and motions. Although the module itself is a simple mechanism, self-reconfiguration planning for locomotion presents a computationally difficult problem due to the many combinatorial possibilities of modular configurations. In this paper, we develop a two-layered planning method for locomotion of a class of regular structures. This locomotion mode is based on multi-module blocks. The upper layer plans the overall cluster motion called flow to realize locomotion along a given desired trajectory; the lower layer determines locally cooperative module motions, called motion schemes, based on a rule database. A planning simulation demonstrates that this approach effectively solves the complicated planning problem. Besides the fundamental motion capacity of the module, the hardware feasibility of the planning locomotion is verified through a self-reconfiguration experiment using the prototype modules we have developed.

Self-Repairing Process in Self-Reconfigurable Robots Based on Geometrical Characteristics

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanqiong Fei ◽  
Xin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
The Self ◽  
Modular Robots ◽  
Modular Robot ◽  
Breadth First Search ◽  
Large Scale System ◽  
Geometrical Characteristics ◽  
Reconfigurable Robots ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Reconfigurable Robot

Self-reconfigurable modular robot consists of many identical modules. By changing the connections among modules, the structure of the robot can flexibly change into many other structures. First, the module is designed which can finish the self-repairing action and its disconnection/connection mechanism is analyzed. Second, a distributed self-repairing process based on the geometrical characters of the modular robot is presented. The method of the Breadth-First-Search and the Depth-First-Search is applied to look for a locomotion path by which a faulty module is ejected and replaced by a spare module. The method can be used to show the self-repairing task of most lattice-type modular robots. It’s effective to solve large numbers of computing problems when the faulty module is inside a large-scale system. At last, a simulation of (2 × 4 + 1)3 modules shows the feasibility and effectiveness of the self-repairing method in the self-reconfigurable robot.

Representing utility and deploying the body

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Spurrett
Keyword(s):  
Functional Activity ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
The Body ◽  
Target Article ◽  
Processing Demands ◽  
The Many

Abstract Comprehensive accounts of resource-rational attempts to maximise utility shouldn't ignore the demands of constructing utility representations. This can be onerous when, as in humans, there are many rewarding modalities. Another thing best not ignored is the processing demands of making functional activity out of the many degrees of freedom of a body. The target article is almost silent on both.

scholarly journals Analysis on Self-Morphing Process of Self-Reconfigurable Modular Robot

10.5772/7232 ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanqiong Fei ◽  
Yueliang Zhu ◽  
Ping Xia
Keyword(s):  
Adjacency Matrix ◽  
The Self ◽  
Geometric Feature ◽  
Modular Robot ◽  
Driving Function ◽  
Lattice Type ◽  
Motion Process ◽  
Motion Paths ◽  
Basic Configuration

The self-reconfigurable modular robot consists of many identical modules. By connecting to/disconnecting from other modules, the whole structure of the robot can transform into arbitrary other configurations. First, the lattice-type self-reconfigurable modular robot is proposed and its disconnected/connected mechanism is analyzed, which can finish self-morphing action. Second, the basic configuration of the module is analyzed with the eigenvector matrix. The motion rules are proposed. Third, the possible motion space is described with the geometric feature of modules which is effective for performing the self-morphing process. Then, the self-morphing motion process is described with the driving function and the adjacency matrix which is useful to solve the computation problem and optimize the motion paths of the robot during the self-reconfigurable morphing process. Final, an experiment of three-module motion and a simulation of multi-module's self-morphing process are shown to prove that the above analyses are effective.

An accurate method to include lubrication forces in numerical simulations of dense Stokesian suspensions

2015 ◽  
Vol 769 ◽  
pp. 369-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Lefebvre-Lepot ◽  
B. Merlet ◽  
T. N. Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Short Range ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Computational Cost ◽  
Parameter Tuning ◽  
Accurate Method ◽  
Spherical Particles ◽  
Particle Model ◽  
Stokesian Dynamics ◽  
New Feature ◽  
The Many

We address the problem of computing the hydrodynamic forces and torques among $N$ solid spherical particles moving with given rotational and translational velocities in Stokes flow. We consider the original fluid–particle model without introducing new hypotheses or models. Our method includes the singular lubrication interactions which may occur when some particles come close to one another. The main new feature is that short-range interactions are propagated to the whole flow, including accurately the many-body lubrication interactions. The method builds on a pre-existing fluid solver and is flexible with respect to the choice of this solver. The error is the error generated by the fluid solver when computing non-singular flows (i.e. with negligible short-range interactions). Therefore, only a small number of degrees of freedom are required and we obtain very accurate simulations within a reasonable computational cost. Our method is closely related to a method proposed by Sangani & Mo (Phys. Fluids, vol. 6, 1994, pp. 1653–1662) but, in contrast with the latter, it does not require parameter tuning. We compare our method with the Stokesian dynamics of Durlofsky et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 180, 1987, pp. 21–49) and show the higher accuracy of the former (both by analysis and by numerical experiments).

scholarly journals THE DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF OFFSHORE STRUCTURES TO TIME-DEPENDENT FORCES

1964 ◽  
Vol 1 (9) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
William S. Gaither ◽  
David P. Billington
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Wind Waves ◽  
Offshore Structures ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Wave Forces ◽  
Ocean Bottom ◽  
Single Wave ◽  
Single Degree Of Freedom ◽  
The Many ◽  
Floating Objects

This paper is addressed to the problem of structural behavior in an offshore environment, and the application of a more rigorous analysis for time-dependent forces than is currently used. Design of pile supported structures subjected to wave forces has, in the past, been treated in two parts; (1) a static analysis based on the loading of a single wave, and (2) a dynamic analysis which sought to determine the resonant frequency by assuming that the structure could be approximated as a single-degree-of-freedom system. (Ref. 4 and 6) The behavior of these structures would be better understood if the dynamic nature of the loading and the many degrees of freedom of the system were included. A structure which is built in the open ocean is subjected to periodic forces due to wind, waves, floating objects, and due occasionally to machinery mounted on the structure. To resist motion, the structure relies on the stiffness of the elements from which it is built and the restraints of the ocean bottom into which the supporting legs are driven.

scholarly journals Relaxing lockdown measures in epidemic outbreaks using selective socio-economic containment with uncertainty

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Albi ◽  
Lorenzo Pareschi ◽  
Mattia Zanella
Keyword(s):  
Uncertain Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Difficult Problem ◽  
Feedback Controls ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
Specific Contact ◽  
Containment Measures ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Impact

After an initial phase characterized by the introduction of timely and drastic containment measures aimed at stopping the epidemic contagion from SARS-CoV2, many governments are preparing to relax such measures in the face of a severe economic crisis caused by lockdowns. Assessing the impact of such openings in relation to the risk of a resumption of the spread of the disease is an extremely difficult problem due to the many unknowns concerning the actual number of people infected, the actual reproduction number and infection fatality rate of the disease. In this work, starting from a compartmental model with a social structure, we derive models with multiple feedback controls depending on the social activities that allow to assess the impact of a selective relaxation of the containment measures in the presence of uncertain data. Specific contact patterns in the home, work, school and other locations for all countries considered have been used. Results from different scenarios in some of the major countries where the epidemic is ongoing, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, are presented and discussed.

Tracing Bio-Political and Eugenic Connections in Education and Treatment of ‘Youth Problems’

1995 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-264
Author(s):  
Judith Bessant
Keyword(s):  
Substance Abuse ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Intelligence Testing ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
The Self ◽  
Street Gangs ◽  
Student Violence ◽  
Biological Explanations ◽  
The Many

Against a backdrop of increasing popular concern about teenage street ‘gangs’, student violence in schools, high levels of youth joblessness and its perceived relationship to crime, substance abuse, suicide and homelessness, this article explores some of the biological explanations of ‘juvenile anti-social behaviour’. One of the many spheres in which eugenics has been influential is education, particularly in its application of psychology, intelligence testing and similar mechanisms for ensuring citizenship and the self-governance of young people. The article contextualises and critically analyses some of the current debates about education and young people within a critical historical analysis of eugenics.

Supervoxel Plane Segmentation and Multi-Contact Motion Generation for Humanoid Stair Climbing

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (01) ◽  
pp. 1650022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianwei Zhang ◽  
Stéphane Caron ◽  
Yoshihiko Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
Motion Planning ◽  
Humanoid Robot ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Estimation Method ◽  
Humanoid Robots ◽  
Stair Climbing ◽  
Lidar Data ◽  
Motion Generation ◽  
Prior Models ◽  
Motion Generator

Stair climbing is still a challenging task for humanoid robots, especially in unknown environments. In this paper, we address this problem from perception to execution. Our first contribution is a real-time plane-segment estimation method using Lidar data without prior models of the staircase. We then integrate this solution with humanoid motion planning. Our second contribution is a stair-climbing motion generator where estimated plane segments are used to compute footholds and stability polygons. We evaluate our method on various staircases. We also demonstrate the feasibility of the generated trajectories in a real-life experiment with the humanoid robot HRP-4.

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