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\title{Modular robot design and the reality gap}
\author{A project in IN5590 by Ege de Bruin E-mail: eged@ifi.uio.no }

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\textbf{Boefje the modular robot}.
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        \section{Intro}
        During my PhD project, I have worked with modular robots in simulation. In the project for this course, I would like to build these robots in real life, test their performance in real life, and evaluate how much the performance differs from simulation to reality. The robots are built out of three modules: One core module containing all electronics and the battery, a joint module that is actuated using a servo, and a brick module with more attachment points. These modules can be used to build any robot.

        The goals of this project are:
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            \item Build a simulated robot in real-life
            \item Evaluate the performance of the real-life robot
            \item Compare this evaluation to the simulated robot
            \item Build multiple robots, and assess the reality gap with different robot sizes.
        \end{itemize}

        In the figures below, you can see the real-life robot and the same robot in the simulation. The design file for the actuator module is shown on the right, to show how the servo is made attachable to the other modules. Boefje, the inspiration for this project, is also shown in all his cuteness.

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        \includegraphics[width=0.5\linewidth]{2.png}
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        On the left, the robot in real life is shown. On the right, its simulation twin is shown.
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        \section{Tools}
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            \item HiTec HS-7954SH servo
            \item 3D printed modules
            \item Raspberry Pi
            \item Circuit boards to connect servos to RPi
        \end{itemize}

        The modules are based on the modules used in Revolve2, and their software is used for control. It is built using Python and the robot is controlled using a CPG-Network. First, the robot is built in simulation and learns optimal controller parameters there. These parameters are transferred to the real-life robot and fine-tuned over multiple iterations.

        \section{Conclusion}

        The robot is built in real life, and we can optimize controller parameters in simulation. These parameters are transferred to the robot to see how well it performs in real life. You can go to the GitHub repo to find a GIF of the robot walking in real life.

        The performance in real life is not optimal, which is as expected due to the reality gap. There, however, does seem to be a difference in angular positions given to the actuators. For future work, I am going to improve the parameter transfer from simulation to real life to mimic the simulation more accurately. After that, I will do experiments on the reality gap, where I want to investigate how the reality gap differs related to the robot's size. Moreover, the setup will be used to test fast-learning algorithms in real life.

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    The servo and 3d printed parts are attached to it, to make it attachable to other modules.

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    \includegraphics[width=1\linewidth]{boefje.png}
    Boefje: The inspiration behind this work and the cutest animal alive.
    
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