Omni-pi-tent: an omnidirectional modular robot with genderless docking

Abstract

This paper presents the design and development of Omni-Pi-tent, a self-reconfigurable modular robot capable of self-repair during continuous motion. This paper outlines the design features necessary for Dynamic Self-repair experiments and how the design of Omni-Pi-tent implements them, we summarise the construction of the first prototype and discuss initial experiments testing some of its key sensors and actuators. In addition, the paper describes experiments in which empirical data from laboratory tests of sensor hardware was integrated into V-REP simulations by means of creating custom sensor models so as to reduce the reality gap.