A Conceptual Design for a New Collaborative Mapping System using Odometry and IMU Data from a Modular Morphing Tracked Robot

Self-reconfigurable and morphing robots are used in numerous domains due to their adaptability to a variety of scenarios and environments which makes them ideal for exploration. While capable of adapting to an environment, many of these robots are incapable of successfully navigating an unknown environment without the use of expensive, complex and range limiting equipment. In addition, while Morphing Tracked Robots are excellent navigators, their reliance on computationally intensive components and substantial power demands contributes to their bulky design and restricted versatility, constraining their applicability across scenarios. We propose a new kind of robot (the MMTR) featuring the modularity from modular reconfigurable robots and the morphing ability found in flipper tracked robots. Combined with a simplified topological map generator using only encoders and an IMU. Through experiments, we have shown that the MMTR can navigate rough terrain using its morphing flippers and build a map using only inexpensive components.