Docking in self-reconfigurable robots

Docking is a crucial action for self-reconfigurable robots because it supports almost all practical advantages of such robots. In addition to the classic docking challenges found in other applications, such as reliable dock/latch mechanics, effective guiding systems, and intelligent control protocols, docking in selfreconfigurable robots is also subject to some unique constraints. These constraints include the kinematics constraints imposed on the docking modules by other modules in the configuration, communication limitations between the docking and relevant modules, and the demand for distributed control software because of the dynamics of configuration. To solve these challenging problems, this paper reports a set of solutions developed in the CONRO reconfigurable robot project. The paper presents a three-stage docking process, six different alignment protocols, distributed inverse kinematics, and other techniques such as dynamic lubrication that are essential for successful docking in CONRO-like robots. These solutions enable CONRO robots to perform autonomous and distributed reconfigurations in a laboratory environment, and they also suggest important considerations for docking in self-reconfiguration in general.