Distributed prediction of unsafe reconfiguration scenarios of modular robotic Programmable Matter
This addresses safety in modular robotics for applications like construction or disaster response, but is incremental as it builds on existing models and algorithms.
The paper tackles the problem of predicting mechanical overload during reconfiguration of modular robots by introducing a distributed framework that solves equilibrium equations on the robot itself, verified in simulations and real experiments with Blinky Blocks.
We present a distributed framework for predicting whether a planned reconfiguration step of a modular robot will mechanically overload the structure, causing it to break or lose stability under its own weight. The algorithm is executed by the modular robot itself and based on a distributed iterative solution of mechanical equilibrium equations derived from a simplified model of the robot. The model treats inter-modular connections as beams and assumes no-sliding contact between the modules and the ground. We also provide a procedure for simplified instability detection. The algorithm is verified in the Programmable Matter simulator VisibleSim, and in real-life experiments on the modular robotic system Blinky Blocks.