Figure. InchBot-II with smart gloves for gesture-based wireless control.
A robotic swarm and swarm intelligence aims to achieve physical and computational flexibility and increased system robustness in multi-task performance, including localization, mapping, and navigation in an unknown, possibly dynamic, environment. Despite their potential, robotic swarms have not yet been applied to tackle real-world problems, due to challenges in achieving controllable global behaviors in a scalable and distributed manner, and the lack of systematic evaluation methods for task performance. We aim to develop and evaluate scalable and adaptive swarm algorithms, hardware platforms for controllable global behaviors, and effective human-swarm teaming strategies.
FUNDING:
Decision making and wireless communication in an artificial swarm are fundamental engineering problems. This line of research focuses on developing algorithms for consensus-based decision making, task allocation, and collective task performance in robotic swarms and establishing effective and reliable wireless networking.
[Read more…] about Consensus decision making in robotic swarms
In swarm robotics, we want each robot to be as small and simple as possible. Small-size robots, however, often suffer from limited locomotion capabilities. Small wheels would not work in uneven, rough terrains. Legged robots exhibit greater flexibilities and agility, but hard to control and mechanically more complex to realize in a small compact form. The presented passive wheel-leg transformable mechanism aims to realize the advantages of both wheeled and legged locomotion without adding additional structural or control complexities.
[Read more…] about WheeLeR: Wheel-and-leg reconfigurable mechanism
Image Courtesy: DARPA OFFSET Program Announcement
Our new DARPA OFFSET Sprint 5 project (PI: Kiju Lee, 04/03/20 – 09/30/21) develops an adaptive Wheel-and-Leg Transformable Robot (α-WaLTR) for versatile locomotion in urban military environments. The 9-month base period will focus on technical development and experimental evaluation of the new hardware platform; and the next 9-month optional period will focus on system-level integration with the existing platform technologies developed by Swarm Systems Integrators. Please check back for more information.
