Towards Morphological Flexibility: Modular Robotics and Bio-inspired Control Heiko Hamann, J¨ urgen Stradner, Thomas Schmickl Artificial Life Laboratory of the Department of Zoology Karl-Franzens University Graz, Universit¨ atsplatz 2, A-8010 Graz, Austria, {heiko.hamann, juergen.stradner, thomas.schmickl}@uni-graz.at Abstract. As a contribution to the efforts towards robotic systems of higher flexibility we present our concept of morphologically dynamic robots. Within the projects SYMBRION and REPLICATOR, that fo- cus on modular robotics, we have developed bio-inspired control tech- niques to achieve new concepts of dynamic, autonomous morphological structures. We propose three modes of coupling between robot modules: swarm, team, and organism mode. We demonstrate our concepts along with simple robot experiments. 1 Introduction One of the future challenges of robotics research is to aspire to higher flexibility in robot systems. Higher flexibility in robot control is related to the challenge of autonomously determining intelligent actions in dynamic environments that might show unanticipated characteristics. Dynamic environments could also raise a demand of different quality: flexibility in morphology. For example, the robot might need to pass a narrow opening, a slippery surface might demand a lower gravity center, or the robot might need a longish body form to overcome a hole in the ground. Autonomous changes of a robot’s body-form at runtime, possibly in rough terrain and as a reaction to unanticipated situations, constitute a big challenge for the methods of today’s robotics. 1.1 Modular robotics The research reported in this paper is allocated to the field of modular robotics. The idea is to have autonomous robotic modules with docking mechanisms that allow them to form physically connected ‘super-robots’. Within the projects SYMBRION [9] and REPLICATOR [5] three types of such robot modules are developed (see Fig. 1(b)): backbone bot (strong main single-DOF actuator to move/rotate docked robots but also 2-DOF locomotion by a screw drive), scout bot (flexible locomotion), and active wheel (omnidirectional drive, ability to provide a lift for other robots). The robot modules possess actuators and sensors to dock/undock autonomously. This hardware is designed to allow for many morphological possibilities (cf. Fig. 1(a)) and is the necessary precondition to achieve autonomous morphological flexibility.