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Thomas Joseph Collins

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3 papers

1 author row

ICRA Conference 2016 Conference Paper

A near-optimal dynamic power sharing scheme for self-reconfigurable modular robots

Chi-An Chen
Thomas Joseph Collins
Wei-Min Shen

This paper proposes a dynamic and near-optimal power sharing mechanism for self-reconfigurable modular robots that successfully extends the operating time of sets of connected modules. The proposed method achieves near-optimal results even when each module only knows the power status of its immediate neighbors (those to which it is directly connected) rather than the power status of every module in the robotic system. The proposed method is validated in physics-based simulation environments and will be implemented on real robotic hardware developed at the Polymorphic Robotics Laboratory at the University of Southern California. It is also compared with current state-of-the-art power sharing mechanisms. Simulated results show that the proposed method allows for longer operation time than with alternative state-of-the-art methods.

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IROS Conference 2016 Conference Paper

Autonomous 6D-docking and manipulation with non-stationary-base using self-reconfigurable modular robots

Luenin Barrios
Thomas Joseph Collins
Robert Kovac
Wei-Min Shen

Aggregation of self-reconfigurable robotic modules can potentially offer many advantages for robotic locomotion and manipulation. The resulting system could be more reliable and fault-tolerant and provide the necessary flexibility for new tasks and environments. However, self-aggregation of modules is a challenging task, especially when the alignment of the docking parties in a 3D environment involves both position and orientation (6D), since the bases of docking may be non-stationary (e. g. , floating in space, underwater, or moving along the ground), and the end-effectors may have accumulated uncertainties due to many dynamically-established connections between modules. This paper presents a new framework for docking in such a context and describes a solution for sensor-guided self-reconfiguration and manipulation with non-fixed bases. The main contributions of the paper include a realistic experiment setting for 6D docking where a modular manipulator is floating or rotating in space with a reaction wheel and searches and docks with a target module using vision. The movement of the docking parties is a combination of floating and manipulation, and the precision of the docking is guided by a sensor located at the tip of the docking interface. The docking itself is planned and executed by a real-time algorithm with a theoretical convergence boundary. This new framework has been tested in a high-fidelity physics-based simulator, as well as by real robotic modules based on SuperBot. Experimental results have shown an average success rate of more than 86. 7 percent in a variety of different 6D-docking scenarios.

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IROS Conference 2013 Conference Paper

ReMod3D: A high-performance simulator for autonomous, self-reconfigurable robots

Thomas Joseph Collins
Nadeesha Oliver Ranasinghe
Wei-Min Shen

Three-dimensional, physics-based simulators are important to the field of self-reconfigurable robotics because they allow researchers to approximate the physical interactions and autonomous behaviors of large numbers of modules in a low-cost, safe, and highly-controlled manner. This paper presents a novel, high-performance, general-purpose simulator for autonomous, self-reconfigurable robots called ReMod3D (RM3D) that overcomes the speed and scalability limitations of existing self-reconfigurable simulators while, at the same time, allowing for realistic module structures, complex environments, and high physical simulation fidelity. While most existing self-reconfigurable simulators view modules as actuated physical bodies with programmable controllers, RM3D views them as embodied agents, defined not only by their physical bodies (links, joints, docks, sensors, actuators) but also by their minds (actions, percepts, behaviors, world models) and the noise inherent in the interaction between sensors, actuators, and the environment. RM3D also simulates inter-module dock connection breakage, something novel for self-reconfigurable robot simulators. Additionally, we present experimental evidence showing that this novel architecture makes RM3D well-suited to locomotion, manipulation, reconfiguration, and embodied intelligence research.

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