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Realizing the promise of robotic self-x systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2011

Amor A. Menezes
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, 1320 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA E-mail: amenezes@umich.edu; kabamba@umich.edu
Pierre T. Kabamba
Affiliation:
Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, 1320 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA E-mail: amenezes@umich.edu; kabamba@umich.edu
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Consider a robot trying to accomplish a mission in an unfamiliar, hostile, and dynamic environment. As the robot encounters a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, it quickly reconfigures itself into two smaller robots, and with the aid of a nearby puddle of water, these two robots conduct self-detection procedures to confirm successful reconfiguration. One robot then calibrates itself using its reduced sensor suite and begins climbing over the obstacle, whilst the other robot folds itself into a compact structure and finds a crevice it can use to bypass the obstacle. But when the obstacle shifts, both robots send signals to a base to warn of impending mission failure. A copy of the original robot, located at the base, receives these warning signals and initiates a rapid self-replication process by assembling available resources. The resultant robotic offspring are then ready to continue the mission when called upon.

Type
Editorial
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

References

1.IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, Special Issue on Self-Reconfigurable Robots, Vol. 7, No. 4, December 2002.Google Scholar
2.IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Self-X: Toward Robotic System Autonomy, Vol. 14, No. 4, December 2007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar