AUTHOR=Cordie Troy , Roberts Jonathan , Dunbabin Matthew , Dungavell Ross , Bandyopadhyay Tirthankar TITLE=Enabling robustness to failure with modular field robots JOURNAL=Frontiers in Robotics and AI VOLUME=11 YEAR=2024 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/robotics-and-ai/articles/10.3389/frobt.2024.1225297 DOI=10.3389/frobt.2024.1225297 ISSN=2296-9144 ABSTRACT=

Actuator failure on a remotely deployed robot results in decreased efficiency or even renders it inoperable. Robustness to these failures will become critical as robots are required to be more independent and operate out of the range of repair. To address these challenges, we present two approaches based on modular robotic architecture to improve robustness to actuator failure of both fixed-configuration robots and modular reconfigurable robots. Our work uses modular reconfigurable robots capable of modifying their style of locomotion and changing their designed morphology through ejecting modules. This framework improved the distance travelled and decreased the effort to move through the environment of simulated and physical robots. When the deployed robot was allowed to change its locomotion style, it showed improved robustness to actuator failure when compared to a robot with a fixed controller. Furthermore, a robot capable of changing its locomotion and design morphology statistically outlasted both tests with a fixed morphology. Testing was carried out using a gazebo simulation and validated in multiple tests in the field. We show for the first time that ejecting modular failed components can improve the overall mission length.