Lessons learned in designing user-configurable modular robotics

Abstract

User-configurable robotics allows users to easily configure robotic systems to perform task-fulfilling behaviors as desired by the users. With a user configurable robotic system, the user can easily modify the physical and functional aspect in terms of hardware and software components of a robotic system, and by making such modifications the user becomes an integral part in the creation of an intelligence response to the challenges posed in a given environment. I.e. the overall intelligent response in the environment becomes the integration of the user's construction and creation with the semi-autonomous components of the user-configurable robotic system in interaction with the given environment. Components constituting such a user-configurable robotic system can be characterized as modules in a modular robotic system. Several factors in the definition and implementation of these modules have consequences for the user-configurability of the system. These factors include the modules granularity, autonomy, connectivity, affordance, transparency, and interaction.