Analysis and Simulation of the Modular Robotic System MECABOT in Caterpillar-Type and Snake-Type Configurations Using WEBOTS Software

摘要

In the following report the required parameters and mathematical development for the analysis of locomotion of a modular robotic system are detailed according to a bio-inspired approach, taking as reference the state of art on the central pattern generator (CPG) simplified and represented by fixed frequency sinusoidal oscillators, this in order to define the problem of movement in caterpillar configuration and the initial conditions and restrictions to consider when making the simulation of moves for the modular robotic system. Then, a controller is developed starting from the equations that describe the movement of MECABOT, a Modular Robotic System designed and developed in the Militar Nueva Granada University in chain architecture, considering the caterpillar and snake configurations. The simulation results of the locomotion of MECABOT, are presented. The variation of the controller parameters: frequency, amplitude, number of modules and number of waves, is done depending on the connection between the semi-modules in order to obtain velocity and behavior data and so, determining an appropriate range of operation for the displacement. The simulation is realized using Webots, a development environment for modelling, programming and simulating mobile robots, by using C as language code.