Design of the Octabot Self-Reconfigurable Robot

Self-reconfigurable robots are for the ability to change the shape of multiple cooperated robot modules that can be easily reconfigurable in the different working environment. Related work on twodimensional robots is presented. A novel design for a self-reconfigurable robot, called “Octabot”, is described. The Octabot robot is a two-dimensional self-reconfigurable robot with modules composed of eight e-type electromagnets. After the magnetic force characteristics based on FEM analyses, mechanical design and system properties are described. The current designs only use single type actuator. The group of Octabots can be easily expanded to a large scale if needed in any case. Via examining the basic mechanical functions, the Octabot in self-reconfiguration shows its satisfactory performance.