Currently, ground-based robots are accustomed to moving in relatively simple environments due to their lack of locomotor capacity needed to traverse more complex terrain.
For this reason, robotics engineer Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, drew inspiration from the collective behaviour of ants, bees, and birds to solve problems and overcome obstacles to develop collaborative legged robots mimicking their counterparts from the natural world.
“When ants collect or transport objects, if one comes upon an obstacle, the group works collectively to overcome that obstacle. If there’s a gap in the path, for example, they will form a bridge so the other ants can travel across […] Through robotics we’re able to gain a better understanding of the dynamics and collective behaviours of these biological systems and explore how we might be able to use this kind of technology in the future.”
Prof. Ozkan-Aydin hypothesised that a physical connection between individual robots could improve the mobility of a collective terrestrial legged system. Using a 3D printer, she built four-legged robots about 20 centimetres long. Each consists of a light sensor and two tactile sensors that allow the different systems to connect, thus endowing them with mechanical intelligence.
When tasks become terradynamically challenging for individuals to be performed alone, they send a light signal to the others to request assistance. The helper robots then reach out to the research robot in distress and join it to successfully traverse uneven obstacles, such as stairs or rough terrain.
There are still improvements to be made on this invention. Still, its success may lead to using these swarms of robots in unexpected situations and performing real-world cooperative tasks, such as search and rescue operations, collective transportation of objects, space exploration, and environmental monitoring.
In an interview with Tech Brief, Prof. Ozkan-Aydin explained that in future designs, the communication systems between the robots would be improved so that the range of action will also be increased. In fact, with the current design, if a helper robot is outside the range of the research robot, it won’t be able to find and rescue it. Another point that needs to be improved upon is the power supply. Prof. Ozkan-Aydin proposes several ideas, including equipping each robot with a solar panel to recharge its batteries or equipping only one that will transmit power to the others.
Written by Carlotta Viaggio
Source
Sieff, G. (2018, October 18), Researchers successfully build four-legged swarm robots, Notre Dame News, https://news.nd.edu/news/researchers-successfully-build-four-legged-swarm-robots/
