A Novel Docking and Communications System for Heterogeneous Modular Robots

Modular robots are systems of many independent modules that can mechanically join and communicate with one another to form a robot morphology that can accomplish more than any of the modules could accomplish independently. Systems of modular robots that can dynamically reconfigure can form an ideal morphology for a given task, or repair the system if one or more modules fail. Such capabilities are useful for applications such as operating in harsh environments and exploration of extra-terrestrial planets. Previous work in the field has been focused on locomotion strategies, reconfiguration strategies and docking connector design. While these are all very important areas of research, if modular robots are to progress to the stage of being deployable systems, work needs to be done on developing a holistic platform that research can be built upon. This thesis describes the work that has been done to create a new heterogeneous cubic modular robot platform, Mo*, with particular focus on developing a system that can be used as a standard for modular robot development through a novel connection mechanism and communication strategy It is hoped that this can advance the field of research by allowing providing a platform that can be used for a wide range of future research The system is designed and built, with experiments being performed to test the performance of the docking mechanism and communication system between modules. The hardware system developed in this work could be used and built upon to further advance the capabilities modular robotic systems for real world applications.