Eciton robotica: Design and Algorithms for an Adaptive Self-Assembling Soft Robot Collective

Melinda Malley, Bahar Haghighat, Lucie Houe, Radhika Nagpal

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Social insects successfully create bridges, rafts, nests and other structures out of their own bodies and do so with no centralized control system, simply by following local rules. For example, while traversing rough terrain, army ants (genus Eciton) build bridges which grow and dissolve in response to local traffic. Because these self-assembled structures incorporate smart, flexible materials (i.e. ant bodies) and emerge from local behavior, the bridges are adaptive and dynamic. With the goal of realizing robotic collectives with similar features, we designed a hardware system, Eciton robotica, consisting of flexible robots that can climb over each other to assemble compliant structures and communicate locally using vibration. In simulation, we demonstrate self-assembly of structures: using only local rules and information, robots build and dissolve bridges in response to local traffic and varying terrain. Unlike previous self-assembling robotic systems that focused on latticebased structures and predetermined shapes, our system takes a new approach where soft robots attach to create amorphous structures whose final self-assembled shape can adapt to the needs of the group.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2020
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages4565-4571
Number of pages7
ISBN (Electronic)9781728173955
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2020
Externally publishedYes
Event2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2020 - Paris, France
Duration: May 31 2020Aug 31 2020

Publication series

NameProceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
ISSN (Print)1050-4729

Conference

Conference2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2020
Country/TerritoryFrance
CityParis
Period5/31/208/31/20

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Software
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Control and Systems Engineering

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