Interaction methodology

The Mascarillons project is developed by studying the behavior of the real robot, and by using a powerful robotic simulator (Webots) which had to be adapted for this specific program. It allows the definition of an alternative methodology to meet the project's challenges. Realistically modeling the complex fluid interactions when considering single or multiple flying objects is a difficult problem that obliges to strong simplification choices, and the parameters for the simulation are determined by analyzing the behavior of the real robot. On the other hand, the realistic capacities of the simulator give the possibility to explore the implications of different design alternatives. When explored in physically building the robots, these choices would otherwise consume precious time and resources. Due to the rather large size of the robots, physical experimentations also require large spaces that are not necessarily available at the proper time. So the Mascarillons project involves a co-development occuring simultaneously in vitual and real spaces.

The interaction of both explorations not only speeds up the design process, but also provides us with a strategy to tackle the strongly constrained design space of interacting flying blimps. Indeed limitations in volume, power and weight are a constant concern when improving the sensory-motor capacities of the flying cubes. The potentialities of a given implementation to achieve self-reconfiguration must therefore be explored in terms of sensor placement, information sharing or movement, before considering an improvement of the robotic capacities. Also relevant to the goal is the interdependence of the implementation with self-organisation algorithm distributed in the swarm. In the broader picture, the Mascarillons project also involves the collaboration of traditionally differing fields of research and therefore fits well in the current trend towards more inter-disciplinarity in scientific research.