VASC Seminar Announcement
            =========================

Date: Monday, 11/8/99
Time: 3:30-4:30
Place: Smith Hall 2nd Floor Common Area

Speaker:  Cem Unsal
          CMU Robotics Institute
          http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~unsal

Title: I-Cubes: A Modular Self-reconfigurable Bipartite Robotic System

Abstract:

"I-Cubes" is a class of modular robotic system that is capable of
reconfiguring itself in 3-D to adapt to its environment. This is a bipartite
system, i.e., a collection of (i) active elements for actuation, and (ii)
passive elements acting as connectors. Active elements, called links, are
3-DOF manipulators that are capable of attaching/detaching themselves
from/to the passive elements (cubes). The cubes can then be positioned and
oriented using links, which are independent mechatronic modules.
Self-reconfiguration capability enables the system to perform locomotion
tasks over difficult terrain. Furthermore, system shape and size can be
changed depending on the task at hand. For example, the system would be
capable of moving over obstacles, climbing stairs, or reconfigure itself to
fit inside a pipe.

I'll describe the design of the system and its reconfiguration properties,
give specifics of the hardware implementation, and results of the
experiments with the current prototypes. I will also describe our approach
to motion planning for this modular system and problems related to 3-D path
planning.