Development and control of interactive reconfigurable robotic systems

While reconfigurable robots provide a new promising approach for interactive systems, the complexity of distributed actuation/sensing systems, coupled kinematics and desired functionalities also bring new challenges and questions both in control design and hardware development: What design approaches enable direct human-robot interactions to address the morphological transformations and constraints of multi-DoF distributed activated robotic system? How to implement in-situ, multi-stage, programmable, and controllable actuation for the desired range of motion and functionalities? How to design multi-DoF robotic systems and needed for operation in distinct, real-world applications? These challenges and research questions formulate the objective and framework of my thesis. Namely, I explore for the solutions to provide methodologies for not only building the hardware for reconfigurable interactive systems but also investigating the control algorithm considering human-in-the-loop and evaluating the effectiveness of the integrated system with different application scenarios. In order to address the challenges associated with the development of reconfigurable robotic systems for human interactions, I first outline the concept of an interactive interface between humans and robots. I study the design methods for intuitively and dynamically controlling multi-DoF reconfigurable systems and algorithms for integrating mechanical characteristics of the core robotic components. Then, we investigate the design space and limitation of gesture-based multi-modalities interactions for further exploring the controllability, scalability, and versatility in functions for reconfigurable robotic systems. To realize the reconfigurable interactive robotic system, the design, capability, and limitation of the hardware system need to be established and evaluated. One of my research goals is to take the advantage of current non-conventional manufacturing technologies and materials as well as overcome their limitations. I study and develop compact actuators and unique transmission mechanisms inspired by origami patterns that can be integrated with multi-DoF robotic systems. I start with the design, model, and experimental validation of core functional components. Then, we investigate the fabrication process which has an additive manufactured structure with subtractive manufactured functional components integrated for compact, light-weight, and distributed activated mechanisms. Lastly, I propose the strategies for configuring and controlling the functional components to achieve functionalities like multi-DoF distributed actuation, self-assembly, and tunable stiffness. The achievable functionalities are further examined with several application scenarios. The main contributions of this thesis are: Development of interactive control interface for reconfigurable robotic systems Design and validation of distributed actuation solution and transmission mechanisms for compact multi-DoF robotic systems Study the synergy of additive manufacturing techniques and smart materials for achieving customizable functionalities and overcoming the limitation for conventional robotic systems