Role-based configuration representation for modular reconfigurable robots

A modular reconfigurable robot system - Xmobot consists of a set of homogenous modules. Xmobot modules have flexible locomotion and transformation capability. Multiple modules can be assembled into diverse configurations. The module state matrix and role-based configuration matrix are presented and constructed for representing the module state and configuration. The method of configuration self-identification is implemented through RFID and ZigBee technologies. The RFID labels are used to mark the modules, joints, and docking interfaces. A test bed is built for testing the effective region of the RFID readers. The RFID readers can detect the label within the distance of 5mm and deviation of ±9mm. The internal and external communications of Xmobot modules are based on ZigBee protocol. The performance of ZigBee communication protocol is also evaluated. The impacts of different transmission interval, network depth, and multiple node transmission are figured out in this paper.