Eciton robotica: Design and Algorithms for an Adaptive Self-Assembling Soft Robot Collective

This video accompanies the paper of the same name published at ICRA 2020. Inspired by the bridges and bivouacs formed by army ants, we designed a hardware system Eciton robotica, composed of soft, flexible robots that climb over and attach to each other to assemble structures. The robots use a simple local rule: they stop and become a “bridge” when stepped on. Robots in hardware know they are stepped on by sensing a vibration pulse. Using this local rule, robots in simulation are able to self-assemble structures that adapt to traffic levels and terrain.

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