This demo presents a miniature mobile robot performing autonomous construction in an environment where resources are limited. After an exploration phase, the robot builds a structure at a designated location according to an order from a human. Since local ...

IOS Press2012

Autonomous Construction of a Roofed Structure: Synthesizing Planning and Stigmergy on a Mobile Robot

Michael Bonani, Stéphane Magnenat, Alexey Gribovskiy

We demonstrate a scenario in which a mobile robot, according to a plan, builds a structure that it can then enter. The robot interacts with the construction using local sensing. This synthesis of planning and stigmergy opens the way to new construction tec ...

2012

Integration of Online Learning into HTN Planning for Robotic Tasks

Francesco Mondada, Jean-Cédric Chappelier, Stéphane Magnenat

This paper extends hierarchical task network (HTN) planning with lightweight learning, considering that in robotics, actions have a non-zero probability of failing. Our work applies to A*-based HTN planners with lifting. We prove that the planner finds the ...

2012

Physical interactions in swarm robotics: the hand-bot case study

Francesco Mondada, Hannes Bleuler, Michael Bonani, Stéphane Magnenat, Philippe Rétornaz

This paper presents a case-study on the performance achieved by the mechanical interactions of self-assembling mobile robots. This study is based on the hand-bot robot, designed to operate within heterogeneous swarms of robots. The hand-bot is specialized ...

Springer2012

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Robots are both fascinating objects for the general public and devices whose conception, understanding and pro- gramming involve many fields. This unique combination makes them an ideal tool for introducing science and technology to children. This paper pr ...

IEEE2012

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The goal of creating machines that autonomously perform useful work in a safe, robust and intelligent manner continues to motivate robotics research. Achieving this autonomy requires capabilities for understanding the environment, physically interacting wi ...

Springer Verlag2012

Towards an Autonomous Evolution of Non-Biological Physical Organisms

Francesco Mondada, Michael Bonani, Stéphane Magnenat, Roderich Gross, Lorenz Küchler

We propose an experimental study where simplistic organ- isms rise from inanimate matter and evolve solely through physical interactions. These organisms are composed of three types of macroscopic building blocks floating in an agitated medium. The dynamis ...

Springer Verlag2011

ASEBA: A Modular Architecture for Event-Based Control of Complex Robots

Francesco Mondada, Michael Bonani, Stéphane Magnenat, Philippe Rétornaz, Valentin Longchamp

We propose ASEA, a modular architecture for event-based control of complex robots. ASEBA runs scripts inside virtual machines on self-contained sensor and actuator nodes. This distributes processing with no loss of versatility and provides several benefits ...

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers2011