Toward a 2D Modular and Self-Reconfigurable Robot for Conveying Microparts

Sebastian Mobes, Guillaume J. Laurent, Cedric Clevy, Nadine Le Fort-Piat, Benoit Piranda, Julien Bourgeois
2012 2012 Second Workshop on Design, Control and Software Implementation for Distributed MEMS  
This paper describes the design, prototyping and control of a 2D modular and self-reconfigurable robot for conveying microparts. The elementary block is designed to have a package dimension under 1cm 3 and will include the actuators, the electronics and the micro-controller. Electropermanent (EP) magnets are used for both the linkage and the traveling system to avoid any power consumption during the linkage. Some prototype blocks have been realized and show a well working of the motion and a
more » ... ficient holding force. The paper presents also an algorithm, common to all blocks units, allowing to reconfigure a set blocks from a spatial configuration to another one. This algorithm is implemented in a simulator software showing in real-time the reconfiguration of the robot.
doi:10.1109/dmems.2012.20 fatcat:eg2uyxmo4zgufdcra4nsurid3y