Efficient Balance Detection for Modular Robots

In this paper, we explore the field of self-reconfigurable modular robots, representing a significant advance in robotic technology. These robots have many capabilities, offering high adaptability and flexibility for a variety of applications. However, computing the stability is challenging as it is computationally intensive, it needs to be distributed and fast, as close as possible of real-time. In this article, we introduce a distributed algorithm designed to overcome these challenges while taking mechanical constraints into account. At the heart of this algorithm is the notion of the "support polygon", which enables the stability of a modular robot to be assessed in real time. The algorithm is based on a fully distributed tree partitioning approach, facilitating efficient communication and collaboration between modules. The algorithm also uses a polygon merging approach to reduce the number of messages when creating the polygon support, thus significantly reducing response time. In fact, the response time of the method used is very small compared to other research. We also present simulation results on a simulator, VisibleSim, as well as experimental validation on real robotic modules, which underlines the practical viability of the approach. Overall, this work lays a solid base for further advances aiming to guarantee the stability of modular robots.