A hierarchical motion planning strategy for a uniform self-reconfigurable modular robotic system

Abstract

Describes a multi-layered hierarchical motion planning strategy for a class of self-reconfigurable modular robotic systems, I-Cubes. The approach is based on the synthesis of motion on the basis of metacubes, which have a particular structure possessing 8 Cubes and 16 Links. The developed strategy organizes the metacube motions and the corresponding cube-level motions. At the lowest level, link motions are generated. The resulting system is demonstrated to be capable of performing a pre-specified task of moving from one position/shape to another. The paper describes the latest results of our planning strategy through some experimentally justified examples.