We demonstrate how simple local rules, inspired by social insects, produce complex dynamic behaviors required for locomotion and navigation in modular self-reconfigurable robots. We show how systems made up of many modules respond dynamically to their environment, such as obstacles during navigation. We present control algorithms tested on simulation experiments of TeleCube, a new modular robot developed at Xerox PARC.

We demonstrate how simple local sensing and control rules achieve useful emergent behaviors in modular self-reconfigurable (metamorphic) robots. Our biologically inspired approach grows structures with the desired functionality even though the final shapes have some unspecified random variation. By contrast, other self-reconfiguration algorithms require an a-priori exact description of a target shape for the given task, which may be difficult when a robot operates in uncertain environments. We present and evaluate several control algorithms through simulation experiments of Proteo, a metamorphic robot system.

Mobile manipulation capabilities are key to many new applications of robotics in space, underwater construction, and service environments. This article discusses the ongoing effort at Stanford University for the development of multiple mobile manipulation systems and presents the basic models and methodologies for their analysis and control. This work builds on four methodologies we have previously developed for fixed-base manipulation: the operational space formulation for task-oriented robot motion and force control; the dextrous dynamic coordination of macro/mini structures for increased mechanical bandwidth of robot systems; the augmented object model for the manipulation of objects in a robot system with multiple arms; and the virtual linkage model for the characterization and control of internal forces in a multi-arm system. We present the extension of these methodologies to mobile manipulation systems and propose a new decentralized control structure for cooperative tasks. The article also discusses experimental results obtained with two holonomic mobile manipulation platforms we have designed and constructed at Stanford University.