Doyle, M., Xu, X., Gu, Y. et al. (3 more authors) (2016) Modular Hydraulic Propulsion: A Robot that Moves by Routing Fluid Through Itself. In: 2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. 2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2016), 16-21 May 2016, Stockholm, Sweden. IEEE , pp. 5189-5196.
Abstract
This paper introduces the concept of Modular Hydraulic Propulsion, in which a modular robot that operates in a fluid environment moves by routing the fluid through itself. The robot’s modules represent sections of a hydraulics network. Each module can move fluid between any of its faces. The modules (network sections) can be rearranged into arbitrary topologies. We propose a decentralized motion controller, which does not require modules to communicate, compute, nor store information during run-time. We use 3-D simulations to compare the performance of this controller to that of a centralized controller with full knowledge of the task. We also detail the design and fabrication of six 2-D prototype modules, which float in a water tank. Results of systematic experiments show that the decentralized controller, despite its simplicity, reliably steers modular robots towards a light source. Modular Hydraulic Propulsion could offer new solutions to problems requiring reconfigurable systems to move precisely in 3-D, such as inspection of pipes, vascular systems or other confined spaces.
Metadata
Item Type: | Proceedings Paper |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 IEEE. Translations and content mining are permitted for academic research only. Personal use is also permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering (Sheffield) The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Computer Science (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (EPSRC) EP/K033948/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 07 Dec 2016 16:44 |
Last Modified: | 19 Dec 2022 13:35 |
Published Version: | http://doi.org/10.1109/ICRA.2016.7487725 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | IEEE |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1109/ICRA.2016.7487725 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:108979 |