Skip to main content

Scalable Compiler for the TERMES Distributed Assembly System

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Advanced Robotics ((SPAR,volume 9))

Abstract

The TERMES system is a robot collective capable of autonomous construction of 3D user-specified structures . A key component of the framework is an off-line compiler which takes in a structure blueprint and generates a directed map, in turn permitting an arbitrary number of robots to perform decentralized construction in a provably correct manner. In past work, this compiler was limited to a non-optimized search approach which scaled poorly with the structure size. Here, we recast the process as a constraint satisfaction problem and present new scalable compiler schemes and the ability to quickly generate provably correct maps (or find that none exist) of structures with up to 1 million bricks. We compare the performance of the compilers on a range of structures, and show how the transition probability between locations in the structure may be altered to improve system efficiency. This work represents an important step towards collective robotic construction of real-world structures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Brambilla, M., Ferrante, E., Birattari, M., Dorigo, M.: Swarm robotics: a review from the swarm engineering perspective. Swarm Intell. 7(1), 1–41 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Coulais, C., Teomy, E., de Reus, K., Shokef, Y., van Hecke, M.: Combinatorial design of textured mechanical metamaterials. Nature 535(7613), 529 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Hua, Y., Deng, Y., Petersen, K.: Robots building bridges, not walls. In: IEEE International Workshops on Foundations and Applications of Self* Systems (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Jones, C., Mataric, M.J.: Toward a multi-robot coordination formalism. Technical report. DTIC Document (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Kumar, T.S., Jung, S.J., Koenig, S.: A tree-based algorithm for construction robots. In: ICAPS (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Lindsey, Q., Mellinger, D., Kumar, V.: Construction of cubic structures with quadrotor teams. In: Robotics: Science and Systems VII (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Lindsey, Q., Mellinger, D., Kumar, V.: Construction with quadrotor teams. Auton. Robot. 33(3), 323–336 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Mackworth, A.K.: Consistency in networks of relations. Artif. Intell. 8(1), 99–118 (1977)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  9. Napp, N., Nagpal, R.: Robotic construction of arbitrary shapes with amorphous materials. In: Proceedings—IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 438–444 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Petersen, K., Nagpal, R.: Complex Design by Simple Robots. Architectural Design, pp. 44–49 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Petersen, K., Nagpal, R., Werfel, J.: TERMES: An Autonomous Robotic System for Three-dimensional Collective Construction (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Rubenstein, M., Cornejo, A., Nagpal, R.: Programmable self-assembly in a thousand-robot swarm. Science 345(6198), 795–799 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Russell, S.J., Norvig, P.: Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Pearson Education Limited, Malaysia (2016)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  14. Seo, J., Yim, M., Kumar, V.: Assembly planning for planar structures of a brick wall pattern with rectangular modular robots. In: 2013 IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE), pp. 1016–1021, Aug 2013

    Google Scholar 

  15. Silva, M.S.D., Thangavelu, V., Gosrich, W., Napp, N.: Autonomous Adaptive Modification of Unstructured Environments. Robotics: Science and Systems (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Soleymani, T., Trianni, V., Bonani, M., Mondada, F., Dorigo, M.: Autonomous construction with compliant building material. In: Intelligent Autonomous Systems, vol. 13, pp. 1371–1388. Springer (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Stoy, K., Nagpal, R.: Self-reconfiguration using directed growth. Distrib. Auton. Robot. Syst. 6, 3–12 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Tucci, T., Piranda, B., Bourgeois, J.: A distributed self-assembly planning algorithm for modular robots. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems, pp. 550–558. International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Werfel, J., Petersen, K., Nagpal, R.: Distributed multi-robot algorithms for the TERMES 3D collective construction system. In: Modular Robotics Workshop. IEEE (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Werfel, J., Petersen, K., Nagpal, R.: Designing collective behavior in a termite-inspired robot construction team. Science 343(6172), 754–8 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by GETTY LABS.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kirstin Petersen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Deng, Y., Hua, Y., Napp, N., Petersen, K. (2019). Scalable Compiler for the TERMES Distributed Assembly System. In: Correll, N., Schwager, M., Otte, M. (eds) Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems. Springer Proceedings in Advanced Robotics, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05816-6_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics