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Locomotion Capabilities of a Modular Robot with Eight Pitch-Yaw-ConnectingModules
Juan Gonzalez-Gomez
1
, Houxiang Zhang
2
, Eduardo Boemo
1
and Jianwei Zhang
21
Computer Engineering School, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain
2
TAMS, Department of Informatics, University of Hamburg, Germanyemail:
{
Juan.gonzalez,Eduardo.Boemo
}
@uam.es,
{
hzhang,zhang
}
@informatik.uni-hamburg.de
Abstract 
—In this paper, a general classification of themodular robots is proposed, based on their topology andthe type of connection between the modules. The loco-motion capabilities of the sub-group of pitch-yaw con-necting robots are analyzed. Five different gaits havebeen implemented and tested on a real robot composedof eight modules. One of them, rotating, has not beenpreviously achieved. All gaits are implemented using asimple and elegant central pattern generator (CPG) ap-proach that simplify the algorithms of the controllingsystem.
I. Introduction
The last few years have witnessed an increasing in-terest in modular reconfigurable robotic technologies.The applications include industrial inspection[1], urbansearch and rescue[2], space applications[3] and militaryreconnaissance.Modular robots are very interesting for research pur-poses. New configurations can be built very fast andeasily, for the exploration, testing and analysis of newideas. Therefore, fast robot prototyping is another im-portant characteristic of modular robotics, in additionto versatility, robustness and low cost[4].A general classification of the different configurationsof modular robots is essential for the study of their prop-erties. This is not easy because of the infinite numberof prototypes that can be built. It is even worst dueto the exponential growths of the number of configu-rations with the modules. As much modules are used,much more configurations are possible. Therefore, aclassification is needed to group the configurations andto analyze the properties of the sub-groups.Such classification is proposed in this paper, based onthe topology of the robots and the type of connectionbetween the modules. It is further developed in sectionII.The sub-group of pitch-yaw connecting robots arevery interesting because they feature snake’s structure.Some researchers have studied the locomotion proper-ties of these robots. A deeply analysis was performedby Dowling[5]. He focused on learning techniques tomove the snake robots. He simulated different gaits:side-winding and rolling among others. Very interest-ing conclusions are obtained, but the results are noteasy to implement on a real robot.Mori[6] achieved different kinds of lateral rolling gaitson ACM-R3 robot and Chen[7] studied it deeply andproposed to use it in pitch-yaw connecting robots tocross over obstacles. Stoy et al.[8] tested the side-winding gait in a pitch-yaw configuration composed of Conro Modules[9]. A very interesting simulation of theside-winding gait generated by means of genetic pro-graming was achieved by Tanev[10].For the control algorithm, the CPG approach hasbeen successfully implemented on some modular robots,like Amphibot II[11], Yamor[12], M-TRAN[13] and alsoon non-modular robots like Aramies[14].In this paper we focused on finding the locomotioncapabilities of the pith-yaw configurations in general,using a sinusoidal CPG approach that can be imple-mented easily in an eight-bit microcontroller. A pitch-yaw connecting modular robot with eight modules havebeen built for testing. Five different gaits have beenachieved on the real robot. One of them, the rotatinggait, is a new one that has not been previously per-formed in other similar robots, from the best of ourknowledge.In previous work we have studied the pitch-connecting configurations[15] and the locomotion capa-bilities of 1D and 2D minimal configurations[16].
II. A general classification of the modularrobots
A new classification of modular robots is proposed,based on their topology and the connection betweenadjacent modules. The diagram is shown in Fig.1. Someprevious ideas of other researchers are included.Mark Yim and other researchers at Palo Alto Re-search Center (PARC) established a first classificationof modular robots in two groups: lattice and chainrobots. The former arranges modules to conform a grid, just like atoms conforming complex 3D molecules orsolids. Examples of this robots are:[17][18][19]. One of the promise of this kind of robots is building solid ob- jects, like a cup or a chair, and then rearranging theatoms to form another solid. The latter structures arecomposed of chains of modules. For example, the struc-ture of a four legged robot can be thought as five chains.A chain act as the main body (or the cord) and anotherfour chains conform the legs. Chain robots are suit-able for locomotion and manipulation since the modularchains are like legs or arms.A new sub-classification of chain robots according toits topology is proposed. Three new sub-groups appear:1D, 2D or 3D chain robots (Fig. 2) . If the robotconsist of a series chain of linked modules, the topologyis a 1D chain. Two or more chains can be connectedforming 2D topologies like triangles, squares, stars andso on. All these configurations can be fitted into a plane(when they are in its home state). Finally, the chains
 
Pitch connectingYaw connectingPitch−yaw connectingMODULAR ROBOTSLattice Robots2D and 3D structuresChain RobotsOnly one chain of modulesTwo or more chains connected along different axesSerpentine robotsPropulsion derived from wheels or tracksComposed of chains of modulesPropulsion derived from body motionsSnake robots2D and 3D topologies1D topologyRus et al. (2001)Suh et al. (2002) [Telecubes]Winckler et al. (2004) [Atron]JL−1 (Zhang et al., 2006)Omnitread (Granosik et al., 2005)Genbu (Kimura et al.,2002)ACM (Hirose 1993)ACM−R1 (Endo et al., 1999)Amphibot I (Crespi et al., 2005)WormBot (Conrad, 2003)S5 (Miller et al., 2002)SES−2 (Ute et al., 2002)(Ma et al., 2001)Yamour (Moeckel et al., 2005)Polybot (Yim et al., 2002)M−TRAN (kurokawa et al., 2003)(Chen et al., 2004)Cube Revolutions (Gonzalez et al., 2004)PP (Gonzalez et al., 2005)M−TRAN (kurokawa et al., 2003)ACM−RE (Mori et al., 2002)Polybot (Yim et al., 2002)Conro (Castano et al., 2000)(Dowling 1997)SMA (Yamakita et al., 2003)(Chen et al., 2004)Yamour (Moeckel et al., 2005)PYP (Gonzalez et al., 2005)
Fig. 1. General classification of modular robots
bca
Fig. 2. Examples of the three sub-types of chain robots:a) 1D topology. A structure with only one chain of modules. b) 2D topology: a star structure, com-posed of three chain of two modules. c) 3D topol-ogy. A robot composed of six chains of two modules.can be connected so that they do not fit into a plane,forming a 3D topology like a cube, pyramid, 3D starand furthermore.1D chain robots are like snake, worms, legs, arms orcords. They can blend their bodies to adopt differentshapes. They aresuitable for goingthough tubes, grasp-ing objects and moving in rough terrain. If the lengthis enough, they can form a loop and move like a wheel.2D and 3D chain robots can move by body motions orusing legs. In general, they are more stables, becausethey can have more points contacting with the ground.The family of 1D chain robots can be divided intotwo groups. Granosik et al.[1] propose to call them ser-pentine and snake robots. The former have wheels ortracks for propulsion and the latter are propelled bybody motions (this group also include the robots that
cPitch−yawabPitchYaw
Fig. 3. Different connections for a snake robot. a)Pitch connecting. All the modules rotate aroundthe pitch axis. b) Yaw connecting. The modulesrotate around the yaw axis. c) Pitch-yaw connect-ing modules. Some modules rotate around the pitchaxis, and others around the yaw.have passive wheels to contact with the ground). Exam-ples of serpentine robots are Omnitread[1], JL-I[20] andGenbu[22]. Serpentine robots can also have active jointswhich enable them to propel themselves using body mo-tions, even if the primary propulsion system is a spe-cial driving wheels. The principles of the locomotion of snakes robots can be applied to them too. For example,the JL-I robot can perform a lateral shift and rotatinggait which are developed for a snake robot.Snake robots can also be divided in three sub-groupsaccording to the connection axis between two adjacentmodules: pitch connecting, yaw connecting and pitch-yaw connecting (Fig. 3).The yaw-connecting snake robots move like the realsnakes. All the joints rotate around the yaw axis, pro-pelling the robot like a real snake. In order to get pro-pelled, these robots creep along a given curve path, butthe body should slip in the tangential direction with-out any sliding in the direction normal to the bodyaxis. These conditions are met with passive wheels,but another type of special skin can be used. Therehave been an active research on these robots. Yaw-connecting robots were first studied by Hirose[23]. Hedeveloped the Active Cord Mechanism (ACM). A newversion, ACM-R1 was developed in [24].Ma et al. also developed his own yaw-connectingrobot and studied the creeping motion on a plane[25]and on a slope[26]. Another prototypes are SES-2 [27],S5 [28], WormBot[29] and Amphibot I[11], which hasbeen designed for swimming.The pitch-connecting robots only can move in 1D,forward or backward. Its movement can be generatedby means of waves that travel the body of the robotfrom the tail to the head. The robots move in differentways according to the wave parameters (amplitude, fre-quency, wavelength...). Although the pitch-connectingstructure is one of the simplest configuration, it can per-form a simple self-reconfiguration, for example forming
 
7  2 m m 
     5     2    m    m
  5  2  m  m
Fig. 4. The Y1 module. A very cheap and easy to buildmodule.Fig. 5. The pitch-yaw-connecting modular robot builtto test its locomotion capabilities (Image on theleft). It is composed of 8 linked modules (image onthe right).a loop and moving like a wheel. In previous work, wehave studied deeply this type of structures[15]. Othermodular robots can be connected in this way like Poly-bot[4], M-TRAN [13], Yamour [12], and the robot devel-oped in the Robotics Laboratory of Shenyang Instituteof Automation [7].The pitch-yaw-connecting modular robots have somemodules that rotates around the pitch axis and oth-ers around the yaw axis. These robots have new lo-comotion capabilities, like side-winding, rotating androlling. Some pitch-yaw-connecting robots has moduleswith two DOF, like the Conro modules[9]. Others haveone DOF and can only be connected in a pitch-yawway, like ACM-R3 [6], SMA[30]. Some modules can beconnected both in pitch-pitch and pitch-yaw configura-tions: Polybot[4], M-TRAN [13], Yamour [12], and [7].This characteristic makes the modules more versatile.
III. An overview of the new pitch-yawconnecting modular robot
A. Mechanics
A pitch-yaw connecting modular robot has been de-veloped for locomotion testings. The prototype is basedon the Y1 module (Fig 4), which has been also usedfor building a worm-like robot[15] and some minimalconfigurations[16] in previous work. It is a very cheapand easy to build module. It only have one degree of freedom, actuated by an RC servo. There are two con-nection surfaces for attaching another modules. Therotation range is 180 degrees.The robot consists of eight modules connected in achain (Fig. 5). Four of them rotate around the pitchaxes and the other four around the yawaxesrespectively(The basic connection is shown in Fig. 6). Two adjacentmodules are connected rotating 90 degrees so that onemoves around the pitch axis and the other around the
Pitch axisa)b)Yaw axis
Fig. 6. a) Two Y1 modules in a 90 degrees connection.The modules rotates around the pitch and yaw axesrespectively. b) The robot is made of four of thisbasic unions between the modules.
a)b)
Fig. 7. a) the PIC16F876 based controller used . b)The electronic is connected to the robot by a cable.yaw axis.
B. Control hardware
The electronic and power supply are located off-board. Y1 modules have been designed for fast proto-typing and for the study of the locomotion capabilitiesof the modular robots. All the locomotion algorithmsare executed on a PC that communicates with the elec-tronics by RS-232 connection.The hardware comprises a small board based onthe 8-bit PIC16F876 microcontroller (Fig. 7). It isin charge of generating the pulse width modulation(PWM) signals that position the servos. Software inthe PC send the desired position of the servos to thecontrol board where the PWM signals are generated.The control is in open loop. There is no feedback fromthe servos.
IV. Control approach
The control of the robot is based on CPGs to pro-duce rhythmic motion. One CPG per module is used
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Fig. 8. A graphical representation of the control ap-proach. Eight sinusoidal CPGs are used to controlthe rotation angle of each module. They are dividedinto two groups: horizontal(
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