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Model-based kinematics generation for modular mechatronic toolkits

Published:10 October 2010Publication History
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Abstract

Modular robots are mechatronic devices that enable the construction of highly versatile and flexible robotic systems whose mechanical structure can be dynamically modified. The key feature that enables this dynamic modification is the capability of the individual modules to connect to each other in multiple ways and thus generate a number of different mechanical systems, in contrast with the monolithics fixed structure of conventional robots. The mechatronic flexibility, however, complicates the development of models and programming abstractions for modular robots, since manually describing and enumerating the full set of possible interconnections is tedious and error-prone for real-world robots. In order to allow for a general formulation of spatial abstractions for modular robots and to ensure correct and streamlined generation of code dependent on mechanical properties, we have developed the Modular Mechatronics Modelling Language (M3L). M3L is a domain-specific language, which can model the kinematic structure of individual robot modules and declaratively describe their possible interconnections rather than requiring the user to enumerate them in their entirety. From this description, the M3L compiler generates the code that is needed to simulate the resulting robots within Webots, widely used commercial robot simulator, and the software component needed for spatial structure computations by a virtual machine-based runtime system, which we have developed and used for programming physical modular robots

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    • Published in

      cover image ACM SIGPLAN Notices
      ACM SIGPLAN Notices  Volume 46, Issue 2
      GPCE '10
      Febuary 2011
      185 pages
      ISSN:0362-1340
      EISSN:1558-1160
      DOI:10.1145/1942788
      Issue’s Table of Contents
      • cover image ACM Conferences
        GPCE '10: Proceedings of the ninth international conference on Generative programming and component engineering
        October 2010
        198 pages
        ISBN:9781450301541
        DOI:10.1145/1868294
        • General Chair:
        • Eelco Visser,
        • Program Chair:
        • Jaakko Järvi

      Copyright © 2010 ACM

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      Association for Computing Machinery

      New York, NY, United States

      Publication History

      • Published: 10 October 2010

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