Self-reconfiguring modular robot: Difference between revisions

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* '''Homogeneous''' modular robot systems have many modules of the same design forming a structure suitable to perform the required task. An advantage over other systems is that they are simple to scale in size (and possibly function), by adding more units. A commonly described disadvantage is limits to functionality - these systems often require more modules to achieve a given function, than heterogeneous systems.

* '''Heterogeneous''' modular robot systems have different modules, each of which do specialized functions, forming a structure suitable to perform a task. An advantage is compactness, and the versatility to design and add units to perform any task. A commonly described disadvantage is an increase in complexity of design, manufacturing, and simulation methods.[[File:Taxonomy_of_the_reconfigurable_robots.png|thumb|Conceptual representation for intra-, inter- and nested-reconfiguration under taxonomy of reconfigurable robots.]]

Other modular robotic systems exist which are not self-reconfigurable, and thus do not formally belong to this family of robots though they may have similar appearance. For example, [[Self-assembly|self-assembling]] systems may be composed of multiple modules but cannot dynamically control their target shape. Similarly, tensegrity robotics may be composed of multiple interchangeable modules but cannot self-reconfigure. Self-reconfigurable robotic systems feature reconfigurability compared to their fixed-morphology counterparts and it can be defined as the extent/degree to which a self-reconfigurable robot or robotic systems can transform and evolve to another meaningful configuration with a certain degree of autonomy or human intervention.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tan|first1=Ning|last2=Hayat|first2=Abdullah Aamir|last3=Elara|first3=Mohan Rajesh|last4=Wood|first4=Kristin L.|date=2020|title=A Framework for Taxonomy and Evaluation of Self-Reconfigurable Robotic Systems|journal=IEEE Access|volume=8|pages=13969–13986|doi=10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2965327|issn=2169-3536|doi-access=free}} {{CC-notice|cc=by4|url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8954702}}