Modular robot locomotion based on a distributed fuzzy controller: The combination of modred's basic module motions

Jose Baca, Prithviraj Dasgupta, S. G.M. Hossain, Carl Nelson

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

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

We describe a distributed and autonomous technique for dynamic gait adaptation for a chain-type, modular self-reconfigurable robot (MSR) using a fuzzy logic based, closed-loop controller. To maneuver itself, each module of the MSR is provided with a set of basic or fundamental gaits within a gait control table(GCT). A relevant problem in locomotion of a chain-type MSR is how to coordinate the gait of the individual modules with each other so that the desired locomotion of the MSR can be achieved. To address this problem, our proposed controller maps the inputs from the sensors of each module to an appropriate gait for the module determined from the goal and position of the module in the configuration, using a fuzzy technique. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) is used to close the loop between the goal and the module. We have verified the operation of our controller on a simulated 3-D model of an MSR called ModRED within the Webots robot simulator and also implemented it on the physical ModRED MSR. Our results illustrate that our controller can successfully adapt ModRED's locomotion by dynamically combining basic gaits from the individual modules in the configuration, regardless of the number of modules in the configuration and in the presence of noisy sensor inputs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationIROS 2013
Subtitle of host publicationNew Horizon, Conference Digest - 2013 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
Pages4302-4307
Number of pages6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013
Event2013 26th IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems: New Horizon, IROS 2013 - Tokyo, Japan
Duration: Nov 3 2013Nov 8 2013

Publication series

NameIEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
ISSN (Print)2153-0858
ISSN (Electronic)2153-0866

Conference

Conference2013 26th IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems: New Horizon, IROS 2013
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityTokyo
Period11/3/1311/8/13

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Software
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  • Computer Science Applications

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