The Distributed System Design Research Group of the Intelligent Systems Research Institute (Director: Kazuo Tanie), part of the AIST, has developed a modular robot that is capable of self-reconfiguration. The robot was jointly developed with Assistant Professor Satoshi Murata* of Tokyo Institute of Technology.

The prototype hardware, which can automatically change its shape into various different configurations, is the state-of-the-art technology. The robot is composed of nine modules and is the first in the world to be able to reconfigure its shape without outside help.

Possible applications are operations and exploration in unknown environments where adaptation is required to the surroundings, as well as continuous operation under extreme environments where autonomous repair is necessary.

The results of the research will be presented at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2001, to be hosted jointly by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Robotics Society of Japan from 28 October to 2 November 2001.

Changing from a crawler-type robot to a four-legged robot (Video: mpeg 7.8MB)

* assigned to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

1 May 2001; untill then a member of AIST.