In this talk some of the modular robots we have developed in cooperation with the TAMS group from the University of Hamburg are shown and live demonstrations will be performed. Our research is focused on the locomotion capabilities of the 1D topology modular robots, like caterpillar, snakes and so on.
The control algorithms are bio-inspired. They are based on simplified Central Pattern Generators (CPGs) working as sinusoidal generators. For some values of generator parameters, the robots move using different locomotion gaits, such as rolling, side-winding, and rotating.
Another problem is the locomotion of the minimal configuration: finding those 1D topology modular robots with the minimum number of modules that are capable of moving in 1D and 2D. The two pitch-pitch and pitch-yaw-pitch minimal configuration will be discussed.
Finally, the new Cube-M modules will be presented, which will let us research on new topologies of modular robots.