We have built a system of shipping container sized robotic boats that can hook onto each other. We demonstrate the conceptual design of a system that is capable of constructing bridges and various shaped islands that can be made compliant to waves.
Docking and undocking are common activities for robots (modular robots in particular). The relative frequency of this operation behooves us to ensure reliable alignment under uncertain conditions. We present a new face geometry that is numerically superior to existing alignment geometries. This geometry is intended for two-dimensional reconfigurable robots.
Connection mechanisms are critical to modular reconfigurable systems. The ModLock manual connection system is both fast to attach/detach and strong. This low cost, low profile connection system has been demonstrated on a variety of robot configurations including legged walkers, flying quadrotors and wheeled robots.