Calibration of Modular Reconfigurable Robots Based on a Hybrid Search Method

Developed in this paper is a hybrid method for calibration of modular reconfigurable robots (MRRs). The underlying problem under study is unique to MRRs, that is, how to calibrate a set of MRR’s geometric parameters that are applicable to all feasible configurations. For this reason, a hybrid search method is developed to ensure a global search over the MRRs’ workspace for each feasible configuration. By combining a genetic algorithm method with a Monte Carlo method, this method includes three levels of search, namely, pose, workspace, and configuration-space. The final set of global solutions is generated progressively from the results of these three levels of search. The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated through a case study.