The Self-Reconfiguring Crystal Robot

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The Crystal Robot is a two-dimensional self-reconfigurable modular robot system composed of Atoms. The Atoms are square and actuate by expanding and contracting by a factor of two in each dimension.

Video of First Prototype (1.3 MB Animated GIF)
Video of First Prototype (1.3 MB Animated GIF)
Second Prototype Top
Second Prototype Top
Second Prototype Side
Second Prototype Side

Two Atom versions have been produced in the Dartmouth Robotics Lab. Version 1 (first prototype) contracted/expanded both axes simultaneously. Version 2 (second prototype) has independent axis control as well as improved actuator motors, a more powerful microprocessor, and IR communication between adjacent Atoms.

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Simulations

The Crystal is also powerful in that all Atoms are identical, so reconfigurations as well as locomotion can be performed quite efficiently, as shown in these simulations:

Corner (29 KB Animated GIF)
Corner (29 KB Animated GIF)
Popper (73 KB Animated GIF)
Popper (73 KB Animated GIF)
Popperclose (53 KB Animated GIF)
Popperclose (53 KB Animated GIF)
Inchworm (54 KB Animated GIF)
Inchworm (54 KB Animated GIF)
Dogcouch (331 KB Animated GIF)
Dogcouch (331 KB Animated GIF)
Pentacube-popper (26 KB Animated GIF)
Pentacube-popper (26 KB Animated GIF)
Translate (185 KB Animated GIF)
Translate (185 KB Animated GIF)

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Version 1

Version 1 of the Crystalline robot system used an atom that contracted/expanded both axes simultaneously:

Video Capture of First Prototype (1.3 MB Animated GIF)
Video Capture of First Prototype (1.3 MB Animated GIF)

We have also done some experiments to determine the Atoms' ability to actuate both synchronously and asynchronously with respect to each other. Video of several of these experiments is also available:

All Contract (12 MB AVI, Cinepak codec)
All Contract (12 MB AVI, Cinepak codec)
Middle Row (10 MB AVI, Cinepak codec)
Middle Row (10 MB AVI, Cinepak codec)
Pair Async (17 MB AVI, Cinepak codec)
Pair Async (17 MB AVI, Cinepak codec)
Middle Row Async (12 MB AVI, Cinepak codec)
Middle Row Async (12 MB AVI, Cinepak codec)

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Version 2

Version 2 of the Crystalline robot system uses an Atom that can independently contract/expand its axes:

Video Capture of Second Prototype (3 MB AVI, Indeo codec)
Video Capture of Second Prototype (3 MB AVI, Indeo codec)

We have also done some experiments to determine the Atoms' ability to actuate both synchronously and asynchronously with respect to each other. Video of several of these experiments is also available. Note these are compressed using the DivX codec. If you have not installed DivX, it can be found at http://www.divx.com.

Inchworm - Single Column (7.6 MB AVI, DivX codec)
Inchworm - Single Column (7.6 MB AVI, DivX codec)
Inchworm - Two Columns (5.7 MB AVI, DivX codec)
Inchworm - Two Columns (5.7 MB AVI, DivX codec)
Inchworm - Blob1 (2.2 MB AVI, DivX codec)
Inchworm - Blob1 (2.2 MB AVI, DivX codec)
Inchworm - Blob2 (1.6 MB AVI, DivX codec)
Inchworm - Blob2 (1.6 MB AVI, DivX codec)
Inchworm with Division (4.4 MB AVI, DivX codec)
Inchworm with Division (4.4 MB AVI, DivX codec)
Recursive Division (3.4 MB AVI, DivX codec)
Recursive Division (3.4 MB AVI, DivX codec)

Retrieved from "http://groups.csail.mit.edu/drl/wiki/index.php/The_Self-Reconfiguring_Crystal_Robot"