Robot 2 Docking and Simulated Self-assembly

With the second robot working we've completed docking tests with it, focusing on repeating the docking to a spare port which the first robot achieved. We expect a slight improvement in the reliability of the docking, being able to ensure a successful docking action without need to retreat and retry from a wider range of initial points of entry to the illuminated 5KHz cone, due to some changes made to the phototransistor orientation angles on robot 2 relative to the phototransistor orientations on the first module produced.

Robot 2 also has improved precision for hinge positioning than the first prototype, made possible by a new FDM printer we've got with accuracies closer to 0.1mm than the 0.2mm we had mostly used earlier, the off-white and dark grey parts of robot 2 were produced on the new printer with ABS rather than the PLA used elsewhere in the modules. This ABS, being smoothery and more slippery to the touch is especially useful for the worm gears and bevels.

Videos of robot 2 docking to the port are shown below.


We will soon build a third robot and perform docking actions between an approaching robot and a moving seed, as the omniwheel drive was designed to enable us to do.

Most of our work right now is focused on simulations related to self-assembly with swarms of Omni-Pi-tent modules. This is to be the subject of a journal paper soon to be published. Below we show a clip from one of those simulations.