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The International Journal of Robotics Research
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Automatic Modular Assembly System and its Distributed Control

Yuzuru Terada

Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, string{at}mrt.dis.titech.ac.jp

Satoshi Murata

Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, murata{at}dis.titech.ac.jp

Construction is difficult to automate because of its complexity. Introducing modularity into both structural components and a means of assembly solves the problem by simplifying the construction task. Based on this idea, we propose a novel concept of a fully automated construction system called the Automatic Modular Assembly System (AMAS). In this paper, we discuss the hardware system and distributed control method of AMAS. This system uses passive building blocks called "structure modules" and an assembler robot that is specialized to handle them. This "modular" concept drastically simplifies structural complexity. We have built a prototype model to evaluate its automatic construction capability. Then we introduce a distributed autonomous control for AMAS, which uses a gradient field to indicate the directions to the assembler robots. The gradient field is generated on the structure modules. To improve the efficiency, we introduce collision avoidance rules such as module relay and local negotiation via a blackboard. We also evaluate the overall performance of the distributed control with simulations.

Key Words: cellular and modular robots • distributed robot systems • mechanism design • path planning for multiple mobile robot systems • autonomous agents • robotics in construction

The International Journal of Robotics Research, Vol. 27, No. 3-4, 445-462 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0278364907085562
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