Slimebot: A modular robot that exploits emergent phenomena

Masahiro Shimizu; Akio Ishiguro; Toshihiro Kawakatsu

doi:10.1109/ROBOT.2005.1570567

Slimebot: A modular robot that exploits emergent phenomena

Masahiro Shimizu, Akio Ishiguro, Toshihiro Kawakatsu

SCI - Physics

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper discusses a fully decentralized algorithm able to control the morphology of a two-dimensional modular robot called "Slimebot", consisting of many identical modules, according to the environment encountered. One of the significant features of our approach is that we explicitly exploit "emergent phenomena" stemming from the interplay between control and mechanical systems in order to control the morphology in real time. To this end, we particularly focus on a "functional material" and a "mutual entrainment", the former of which is used as a spontaneous connectivity control mechanism between the modules, and the latter of which plays as the core of the control mechanism for the generation of locomotion. Simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm can induce "protoplasmic streaming", which allows us to successfully control the morphology of the modular robot in real time according to the situation without losing the coherence of the entire system.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Pages	2982-2987
Number of pages	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOT.2005.1570567
Publication status	Published - 2005 Dec 1
Event	2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation - Barcelona, Spain Duration: 2005 Apr 18 → 2005 Apr 22

Publication series

Name	Proceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Volume	2005
ISSN (Print)	1050-4729

Other

Other	2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Country/Territory	Spain
City	Barcelona
Period	05/4/18 → 05/4/22

Keywords

Decentralized control algorithm
Emergent phenomena
Modular robot
Morphology control
Protoplasmic streaming

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Software
Control and Systems Engineering
Artificial Intelligence
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Access to Document

10.1109/ROBOT.2005.1570567

Cite this

Slimebot : A modular robot that exploits emergent phenomena. / Shimizu, Masahiro; Ishiguro, Akio ; Kawakatsu, Toshihiro.

Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. 2005. p. 2982-2987 1570567 (Proceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation; Vol. 2005).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Shimizu, M, Ishiguro, A & Kawakatsu, T 2005, Slimebot: A modular robot that exploits emergent phenomena. in Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation., 1570567, Proceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, vol. 2005, pp. 2982-2987, 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Barcelona, Spain, 05/4/18. https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOT.2005.1570567

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title = "Slimebot: A modular robot that exploits emergent phenomena",

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author = "Masahiro Shimizu and Akio Ishiguro and Toshihiro Kawakatsu",

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AB - This paper discusses a fully decentralized algorithm able to control the morphology of a two-dimensional modular robot called "Slimebot", consisting of many identical modules, according to the environment encountered. One of the significant features of our approach is that we explicitly exploit "emergent phenomena" stemming from the interplay between control and mechanical systems in order to control the morphology in real time. To this end, we particularly focus on a "functional material" and a "mutual entrainment", the former of which is used as a spontaneous connectivity control mechanism between the modules, and the latter of which plays as the core of the control mechanism for the generation of locomotion. Simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm can induce "protoplasmic streaming", which allows us to successfully control the morphology of the modular robot in real time according to the situation without losing the coherence of the entire system.

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Slimebot: A modular robot that exploits emergent phenomena

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Keywords

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