Man-machine interface for modular robot systems

A modular robot is composed of multiple modules, each comprising a sensor, an actuator, and a control system. Each module accumulates information about its own sensor, actuator, and connections to other modules, as well as communication information between adjoining modules. The user obtains this information via an interface, and can thus recognize the state of the robot and issue commands. However, when the number of modules becomes large, the amount of information sent from the modules becomes too much for the user to deal with effectively. Naturally, it also becomes more difficult for the user to issue commands to the modular robot as the number of modules increases. In this study, we developed an interface to present, in a simple manner, information aggregated in a certain module from other modules, and we examined its effectiveness in a modular robot composed of these modules.