テンセグリティ連続体ロボットによる協調行動のためのタスク適応型形態
Tensegrity Continuum Robots Enable Task-Adaptive Morphologies for Cooperative Behaviors
テンセグリティ構造と爪型接続機構を組み合わせたモジュール型ロボットを開発し、単体での操作・移動に加え、複数台が自己再構成して鎖状・ループ状・分岐状などの形態に変化し、協調操作や多様な移動を実現した。
著者: Mahmud Hasan Saikot, Sydney Spiegel, Sudheera Akalanka Kariyawasam, Andrew Stefka, Josh Chrisler, Jianguo Zhao
分類: cs.RO
原文アブストラクト
Robots that can change their morphologies and behaviors for different tasks and environments hold great promise for adaptable, multifunctional systems. Modular reconfigurable robots (MRRs) can achieve such functionalities by docking and rearranging individual units, but most rely on rigid modules that lack structural compliance, resulting in limited capabilities. Continuum robots offer compliance through flexible backbones, yet they cannot self-reconfigure into task-adaptive multi-robot configurations. Here, we introduce an MRR that unifies the advantages of both architectures by combining a tensegrity-based compliant body with claw-based connection mechanisms. Each robot can manipulate and locomote independently, and multiple robots can self-reconfigure into different morphologies (e.g., chains, loops, branches) for cooperative manipulation and locomotion. We demonstrate the robots' capability across diverse tasks and environments, including coordinated object manipulation and transport, multimodal locomotion, and loco-manipulation in real-world scenarios. These results lay a foundation for adaptable and multifunctional robotic collectives, with broad potential applications in manufacturing, space exploration, and search-and-rescue operations.