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Behavioral Simulations of Lattice Modular Robots with VisibleSim

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Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems (DARS 2021)

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Advanced Robotics ((SPAR,volume 22))

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Abstract

Robotics research needs complex hardware and software that is why simulation is often view as an alternative for testing. Large scale self-reconfiguring modular robotic systems needs a scalable simulation environment which cannot be physics-based.

This paper presents VisibleSim, an open-source behavioral simulator for lattice-based modular robots that uses discrete-event simulation to simulate ensembles of up to millions of modules. We describe the principles behind the simulator and introduce its features and usage from a user standpoint. VisibleSim is built with extensibility, versatility, and flexibility in mind, can be used as a powerful visualization tool, and already has a proven track record with several modular robotic architectures.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://projects.femto-st.fr/programmable-matter/visiblesim.

  2. 2.

    Video presentation of VisibleSim: https://youtu.be/N09KElCbUNk.

  3. 3.

    https://github.com/ProgrammableMatterProject/VisibleSim.

  4. 4.

    https://services-stgi.pu-pm.univ-fcomte.fr/visiblesim/generator.php.

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Acknowledgment

This work was partially supported by the ANR (ANR-16-CE33-0022-02), the French Investissements d’Avenir program, the ISITE-BFC project (ANR-15-IDEX-03), and the EIPHI Graduate School (contract ANR-17-EURE-0002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté (UBFC), University of Franche-Comté (UFC), FEMTO-ST Institute, UMR CNRS 6174, 1 Cours Leprince-Ringuet, 25200, Montbéliard, France

    Pierre Thalamy, Benoît Piranda, André Naz & Julien Bourgeois

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  1. Pierre Thalamy
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  2. Benoît Piranda
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  3. André Naz
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  4. Julien Bourgeois
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Correspondence to Benoît Piranda .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering and Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Fumitoshi Matsuno

  2. Mechanical Systems Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan

    Shun-ichi Azuma

  3. Computer Science and Information Technology, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

    Masahito Yamamoto

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Thalamy, P., Piranda, B., Naz, A., Bourgeois, J. (2022). Behavioral Simulations of Lattice Modular Robots with VisibleSim. In: Matsuno, F., Azuma, Si., Yamamoto, M. (eds) Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems. DARS 2021. Springer Proceedings in Advanced Robotics, vol 22. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92790-5_9

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