Morphology Dependent Distributed Controller for Locomotion in Modular Robots

Abstract

Stigmergy is defined as a mechanism of coordination through indirect communication among agents, which can be commonly observed in social insects such as ants. In this work we investigate the emergence of coordination for locomotion in modular robots through indirect communication among modules. We demonstrate how intra-configuration forces that exist between physically connected modules can be used for self-organization in modular robots, and how the emerging global behavior is a result of the morphology of the robotic configuration.