Meta‐Module Mutual Assistance: A Bioinspired Design for Self‐Assembly of Modular Space Robot

The theoretical capability of modular robots to organize the overall robot into different structures with different functions has broad prospects in space exploration. Therefore, a novel modular space robot named Space Module is developed, and a self‐assembly strategy inspired by biological cooperat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAdvanced intelligent systems Vol. 5; no. 7
Main Authors Zhao, Ning, Gao, Liang, Yang, Zhiyuan, Qi, Jian, Han, Kai, Sui, Xin, Zhao, Jie, Zhu, Yanhe
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Weinheim John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.07.2023
Wiley
Subjects
Algorithms
Biomimetics
Communication
Design
meta-modules
Modular design
modular robots
Modular structures
Modules
mutual assistance
Robots
Self-assembly
Simulation
Space exploration
Space robots
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Summary:The theoretical capability of modular robots to organize the overall robot into different structures with different functions has broad prospects in space exploration. Therefore, a novel modular space robot named Space Module is developed, and a self‐assembly strategy inspired by biological cooperative and mutual assistance behaviors is proposed. First, the meta‐module method is utilized to endow nonmobile modules with the mobility. Second, the mutual assistance is presented to achieve position and posture reachability of the assembly unit while minimizing the effect of meta‐modules on granularity. Then, according to the unique motion characteristics of the meta‐module and mutual assistance, an assembly planner is designed to obtain the assembly sequences to realize the self‐manufacturing of desired configurations. Finally, the validity and feasibility of the proposed assembly strategy are further confirmed by demonstrations. An interactive preprint version of the article can be found here: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.167264888.81237462/v1. Biological mutual assistance is an interesting phenomenon in swarm intelligence, creatures with insufficient capacity help each other to achieve their goals. Herein, this concept is applied to Mover and Tumbler, two types of meta‐modules with limited mobility. By helping each other, each meta‐module can obtain full locomotion ability, which would be used to realize the self‐assembly of modular robot.
ISSN:2640-4567
2640-4567
DOI:10.1002/aisy.202200450