Micro Self-reconfigurable Modular Robot Using Shape Memory Alloy

This paper presents a micro-sized self-reconfigurable modular robotic system using shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators. Composed of identical robotic modules, the system can actively configure various structures. The motion of module is based on two-dimensional rotation by using an actuator mechanism with two SMA torsion coil springs. The micro-sized module measures 2cm cube and weighs 15g, half the size of the previous model developed so far. The feasibility of reconfiguration was demonstrated using the micro-sized robotic modules. We also show an extended three-dimensional (3D) model and discuss a distributed self-reconfiguration algorithm for large-scale modular structures.