Abstract
We present a novel concept of a heterogeneous, distributed platform for autonomous 3D construction. The platform is composed of two types of robots acting in a coordinated and complementary fashion: (i) A collection of communicating smart construction blocks behaving as a form of growable smart matter, and capable of planning and monitoring their own state and the construction progress; and (ii) A team of inchworm-inspired builder robots designed to navigate and modify the 3D structure, following the guidance of the smart blocks. We describe the design of the hardware and introduce algorithms for navigation and construction that support a wide class of 3D structures. We demonstrate the capabilities of our concept and characterize its performance through simulations and real-robot experiments.
Highlights
M ULTI-ROBOT systems promise solutions for construction at much larger scales than the robots themselves
Allows the inchworm to both communicate and localize itself on the structure without ambiguity. Localization of both the smart blocks and the inchworm is achieved through communicating the coordinates, axis, and direction of the face engaged in communication
For communication to be possible across all faces of a smart block, we considered several technologies, including Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C), Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) and Near-Field Communication (NFC), the latter being favored because it eliminated the need to design inter-block electrical connections required for the other methods
Summary
M ULTI-ROBOT systems promise solutions for construction at much larger scales than the robots themselves. We frame it as the study of how intelligence should be distributed across the system [2], [3] To address this question, we explore a concept for multi-robot construction that comprises two types of robots. This work explores the co-design space of collective construction with symbiotic robot teams comprising growing active matter and mobile robots.
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