Modular Robotics

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Overview

Modular robotics studies how robots made from interchangeable parts can change shape, share capabilities, or assemble into systems suited to different tasks. Approaches include mechanical docking and self-assembly, optimization and motion planning, decentralized or graph-based control, and learning methods that transfer across configurations. Researchers apply these ideas to manipulation, locomotion, aerial and underwater robots, construction, field operations, and human-robot interaction. A central challenge is making reconfiguration reliable at scale while ensuring that modules remain mechanically, computationally, and behaviorally compatible after they are combined.

Latest papers

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46 papers7 papers in the last four weeks, level with the four weeks before. 0.0% of all new papers.

  1. 3D Printing of Passively Actuated Self-Folding Robots with Integrated Functional Modules

    May 6, 2026Gaolin Ge, Qifeng Yang, Haoran Lu +3Modular RoboticsRobotics

    Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. · Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. · Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA. +1

  2. AEROS: A Single-Agent Operating Architecture with Embodied Capability Modules

    Apr 8, 2026Xue Qin, Simin Luan, John See +2Modular Robotics

    School of Software, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China · School of Computer Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China · School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Malaysia Campus, Putrajaya, 62200, Malaysia +1

  3. MARS-Dragonfly: Agile and Robust Flight Control of Modular Aerial Robot Systems

    Apr 7, 2026Rui Huang, Zhiqian Cai, Siyu Tang +6Aerial RoboticsModular Robotics

    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117583, Singapore · Engineering Design and Innovation Centre, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117583, Singapore

  4. ZipFold: Modular Actuators for Scaleable Adaptive Robots

    Apr 6, 2026Niklas Hagemann, Daniela RusModular Robotics

    Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA

  5. COMB: Common Open Modular robotic platform for Bees

    Apr 4, 2026Pranav Kedia, Marie Messerich, Tim LandgrafRoboticsModular Robotics

    Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Konstanz, Germany · Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany · Dahlem Center for Machine Learning and Robotics, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

  6. Reconfiguration of supernumerary robotic limbs for human augmentation

    Mar 31, 2026Mustafa Mete, Anastasia Bolotnikova, Alexander Schuessler +1RoboticsAssistive Robotics

    Reconfigurable Robotics Lab, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland. · Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems (LAAS), CNRS, Toulouse, France.

  7. Transferability Through Cooperative Competitions

    Mar 29, 2026Rodrigo Serra, Carlos Azevedo, André Silva +6RoboticsModular Robotics

    Institute for Systems and Robotics / LARSyS, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon · Laboratory for Automatics and Systems, Instituto Pedro Nunes · INRIA, CNRS, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France +3

  8. Introducing M: A Modular, Modifiable Social Robot

    Mar 19, 2026Victor Nikhil Antony, Zhili Gong, Yoonjae Kim +1Social RoboticsModular Robotics

    Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, USA · Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rice University, USA

  9. Robodimm: A Physics-Grounded Framework for Automated Actuator Sizing in Scalable Modular Robots

    Mar 6, 2026J. L. Torres, M. Munoz, J. D. Alvarez +2Modular RoboticsMechanism Design

    CIESOL-ceiA3, Department of Engineering, University of Almería, Spain · CIESOL-ceiA3, Department of Computer Science, University of Almería, Spain

  10. Designing and Validating a Self-Aligning Tool Changer for Modular Reconfigurable Manipulation Robots

    Mar 5, 2026Mahfudz Maskur, Takuya Kiyokawa, Kensuke HaradaModular RoboticsRobotic Manipulation

    Department of Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering Science, The University of Osaka, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan. · Industrial Cyber-physical Systems Research Center, The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 2-3-26 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

  11. Gait Generation Balancing Joint Load and Mobility for Legged Modular Robots with Easily Detachable Joints

    Mar 5, 2026Kennosuke Chihara, Takuya Kiyokawa, Kensuke HaradaLegged RoboticsRobot Motion Generation

    Department of Systems Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering Science, The University of Osaka, 1-3 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan. · Industrial Cyber-physical Systems Research Center, The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 2-3-26 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan.

  12. A Novel Modular Cable-Driven Soft Robotic Arm with Multi-Segment Reconfigurability

    Mar 2, 2026Moeen Ul Islam, Cheng Ouyang, Xinda Qi +3Soft RoboticsModular Robotics

    Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Mississippi State University, MS, USA · Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, MI, USA · Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Dallas, Texas A&M University, TX, USA

  13. Scalable Low-Density Distributed Manipulation Using an Interconnected Actuator Array

    Feb 23, 2026Bailey Dacre, Rodrigo Moreno, Jørn Lambertsen +2Robotic ManipulationModular Robotics

  14. Positioning Modular Co-Design in Future HRI Design Research

    Feb 23, 2026Lingyun Chen, Qing Xiao, Zitao Zhang +2Human-Robot InteractionRobotics

    Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA · Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

  15. Design and Control of Modular Magnetic Millirobots for Multimodal Locomotion and Shape Reconfiguration

    Feb 22, 2026Erik Garcia Oyono, Jialin Lin, Dandan ZhangModular RoboticsRobotics

    Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.

  16. Downwash-aware Configuration Optimization for Modular Aerial Systems

    Feb 20, 2026Mengguang Li, Heinz KoepplAerial RoboticsModular Robotics

    Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany.