Design and Control of Centimeter-Scale Reconfigurable Aquatic Modular Robots

Abstract

This letter presents the Centimeter-scale Autonomous Reconfigurable Platform (CARP), a low-cost, self-assembling Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) designed for modular and cooperative maritime operations. CARP features a 90 mm square top section with four independent active latching mechanisms, enabling dynamic connection and disconnection between units. The vehicle’s motion is controlled using a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR)-based optimal controller with weak formulation-based dynamic parameter estimation for improved performance and adaptability. We demonstrate CARP’s capabilities through trajectory tracking experiments and multi-robot reconfiguration into collective structures. CARP’s compact, low-cost, and modular design enables rapid fabrication and deployment of multiple vehicles, making it an effective platform for developing and testing control, reconfiguration, and swarm robotics algorithms.