Representation and shape estimation of Odin, a parallel under-actuated modular robot: Proceedings of the RSJ/IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems

To understand the capabilities and behavior of a robot it is important to have knowledge about its physical structure and how its actuators control its shape. In this paper we analyze the kinematics and develop a general representation of a configuration of the heterogeneous modular robot Odin. The basics of estimating the shape of the Odin robot is presented, which leads the way for further research on the Odin robot and similar robots. We present an example of how to represent and estimate the shape of a tetrahedron configuration with various types of modules. We conclude that this representation can be used to find the physical constraints of the Odin robot and estimate the shape of a configuration.