Scalable Plug-and-Play Robotic Fabrics Based on Kilobot Modules (Supplementary Material)

<p dir="ltr">The attachment contains:</p><ul><li><b>Straight motion experiment</b>: 16 videos of the robotic fabric tested on <b>4 sizes</b> (3x3, 5x5, 7x7, 9x9), <b>2 types of links</b> (spring and rod), and <b>2 controllers</b> (open-loop and deformation-correcting) [mp4]</li><li><b>Turning experiment</b>: 14 videos of a 7x7 robotic fabric tested on <b>2 types of links</b> (spring and rod), <b>2 turning directions</b> (left and right), and up to <b>4</b><b> </b><b>turning radii</b> (1m, 2m, 3m, infinite (for left turn)) [mp4]</li><li><b>Object manipulation experiment 1</b>: 2 videos of a 4x4 robotic fabric tested on <b>2 types of links</b> (spring and rod) [mp4]</li><li><b>Object manipulation experiment 2</b>: 1 video of a 5x5 hollow robotic fabric tested on spring links [mp4]</li><li><b>Variance of the tracking errors</b> exhibited by 7x7 robotic fabrics attempting to turn at a constant rate using the proposed probabilistic open-loop controller for four radii of curvature (i.e., 1m, 2m, 3m, and infinity) for both types of links [pdf]</li></ul><p dir="ltr">The videos are sped up by 30x.</p><p dir="ltr">The framework supports: (i) fabrics of arbitrary size and shape; (ii) different types of deformable links, namely springs and rods; (iii) easy plug-and-play reconfigurability. Two decentralized straight motion controllers are tested with robotic fabrics comprising up to 81 physical modules: an open-loop controller and a controller from the literature that responds to deformations within the fabric. For spring-based robotic fabrics, the deformation-correcting controller performs best overall, whereas for rod-based robotic fabrics, it is outperformed by the open-loop controller. A decentralized turning motion controller is formally derived and examined for either type of fabric, revealing the ability of the robotic fabrics to move along a curved trajectory using open-loop control. Finally, robotic fabrics are shown to perform basic object manipulation tasks. Robotic fabrics that deploy themselves based on distributed, embodied intelligence could pave the way for novel applications, from patching broken pipes to medical uses within the human body.</p>