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Tribolon: Scalable Self-Assembly Robot

Artificial intelligence Laboratory, University of Zurich, Switzerland
  • Magnetic Enzyme Catalysis
    (2009-2010, Swiss National Science Foundation Grant 200020-118117).

  • Tribolon: Scalable Self-Assembly Robot 
    (2004-2008, Swiss National Science Foundation Grant 200021-105634).


Keywords
Self-assembly robot, Autonomous-decentralized system, Morphology

Summary
The aim of this project is to realize highly autonomous scalable self-assembly robots. 
  • The detailed description of this project can be found at:Miyashita, S. (2011). Effect of Morphology on Scalable Self-Assembling Robots -in Pursuit of Living Artificial Systems-. Ph.D. thesis, University of Zurich.
  • The brief overview of the project can be watched at:
    https://cast.switch.ch/vod/clips/2l9ku51bho/flash.html

Self-Assembly 

Self-assembly is a process through which an organized structure spontaneously forms from simple parts. This process is ubiquitous in nature, and its amazing power is documented by many fascinating instances operating at various spatial scales.

Despite its crucial importance, little is known about the mechanisms underlying self-assembly and not much effort has been devoted to abstract higher level design principles.

Taking inspiration from biological examples of self-assembly, we designed a series of modular robots that are capable of aggregation on the surface of water.

The investigation started with a set of magnetized floating tiles. The effect of morphology, which we believe plays a crucial role was paid attention and specifically investigated.

  • Miyashita, S., Nagy, Z., Nelson, B. J., and Pfeifer, R. (2009). The influence of shape on parallel self-assembly. Entropy, 11, 643-666. link
Regardless of the expectations, technological limitations, especially in realizing  lightweight Actuators, Batteries, and Connection mechanisms prevented the progress.

Light but strong -- in order to satisfy these contradictory requirements, we selected  a cellphone vibrator as an actuator to induce desired agitation combined with a  pantograph system. The setup enables us to realize "macroscopic temperature".

  • Miyashita, S., Kessler, M., and Lungarella, M. (2008). How morphology affects self-assembly in a stochastic modular robot. IEEE International  Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Pasadena, USA, 3533-3538

  • Miyashita, S., Goldi, M., and Pfeifer, R. (2011). How reverse reactions influence the yield rate of stochastic self-assembly. International Journal of Robotics Research, doi:10.1177/0278364910393288. link
Mechanical, electro magnetic, ..there exist variety of connection mechanisms, however few satisfied our specifications. The main issue was again how to attain strong bonding force. Our answer to this question is using thermal energy.

  • S. Miyashita, F. Casanova, M. Lungarella, and R. Pfeifer (2008) Peltier-Based Freeze-Thaw Connector for Waterborne Self-Assembly Systems, IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Nice, France, 1325-1330.
How can we make the modules more active? Beyond that, how do molecules manage to coordinate with such massive amount of other molecules in a cell? Our answer to this question is giving up trying to make modules "active", but "passive but reactive". You may take a look at Chapter 6 of Miyashita's thesis. 
  • Miyashita, S. (2011). Effect of Morphology on Scalable Self-Assembling Robots -in Pursuit of Living Artificial Systems-. Ph.D. thesis, University of Zurich. 



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Shuhei Miyashita






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