UC San Diego

The project could be basically divided into 4 parts.

The first part is based on the work done before,which is mainly about how the collision could change the phase of the robots and then make robots become synchronized. And then we suppose a spring connection could make this happen in a much easier way. Using the improved controller function and the servo motor, we testify the hypothesis. What is more, with some anisotropic friction, it could become locomotion robots. It inspires us to apply this strategy to make locomotion robots.

Second part, applied this kind of algorithm to a more general situation. Using DC motor and torque control to motivate the robots. Build the dynamic function and the relevant reduction function of the robot's system, try to linearize it to investigate how control parameters influence the behavior of the system around equilibrium.This part is basically based on the theory of system control.

Third part, analyze the system in detail, discuss how the physical characteristics of the spring and the controlling parameters influence the whole system in some particular situations.Simulated the situations in matlab and python and revealed the theory behind the phenomenon which we observed in the simulation environment by calculating. Set the physical platform to testify the simulation and calculation results we got before.

Fourth part, based on the results we got before, using silicon and linkage robots to make locomotion robots which could turn around or move forward on the ground by changing the physical characteristics of the silicon.