Development Of Modular Joints For Self-Reconfigurable Robots And Research On Their Docking Methods

With the development of robotics,more and more different types of robotic systems appear.Among them,the modular self-reconfigurable robot is a relatively cutting-edge robot with high research value.Modular self-reconfigurable robot is a robot system composed of several unit modules connected and capable of autonomous deformation and reconfiguration.Meta-module is the basic unit and the most important component of the modular self-reconfigurable robot.Each module has complete functions such as docking,perception,motion,and control.Compared with traditional robots,modular robots have the characteristics of free docking,deformable reconfiguration,etc.And can be changed into different configurations to adapt to different tasks in robot applications.Therefore,this paper proposes a self-reconfigurable robot modular joint.The robot has three degrees of freedom and can be used as a unit module of a self-reconfigurable robot system.First of all,on the basis of summarizing the research status,this paper determines the overall design idea and main performance indicators of the modular joint,gives the overall structure design scheme of the modular joint,and designs and analyzes the main structure.Mechanical simulation check to verify the rationality of the design.Second,this paper proposes a self-reconfigurable robotic modular joint connector with one degree of freedom vision-guided docking and electromechanical connection capabilities.The connector has one output degree of freedom,and the planetary reduction mechanism is integrated in the connector to make it have a higher output torque.The docking mechanism with self-locking ability and large bearing capacity is specially designed,and the electrical connection function and visual inspection function are integrated,which can realize the functions of detection,positioning,mechanical connection,locking,and electrical connection between modules.Then,aiming at the reconstruction autonomous docking problem of self-reconfigurable robots,this paper proposes a docking method based on vision guidance.Based on ARUCO visual tags and EPNP pose estimation algorithm,it realizes connector visual acquisition,wireless transmission,host computer pose estimation and motion planning.Finally,a self-reconfigurable robot modular joint prototype is developed,an experimental platform is built,and the prototype is experimentally tested and performance verified.A series of experiments on dislocation tolerance,visual inspection positioning accuracy,and bearing capacity were carried out on the prototype of the connector to verify the feasibility of the design.In addition,a vision-guided autonomous docking test was performed to verify the overall performance of the connector.