Distributed Manipulator Systems, composed of arrays of robotic actuators necessitate dense actuator arrays to effectively manipulate small objects. This paper presents a system composed of modular 3-DoF robotic tiles interconnected by a compliant surface layer, forming a continuous, controllable manipulation surface. The compliant layer permits increased actuator spacing without compromising object manipulation capabilities, significantly reducing actuator density while maintaining robust control, even for smaller objects. We characterize the coupled workspace of the array and develop a manipulation strategy capable of translating objects to arbitrary positions within an N X N array. The approach is validated experimentally using a minimal 2 X 2 prototype, demonstrating the successful manipulation of objects with varied shapes and sizes.

翻译：分布式操控系统通常需要密集的执行器阵列来有效操控小型物体。本文提出了一种由模块化三自由度机器人单元组成的系统，这些单元通过柔性表层相互连接，形成一个连续可控的操控表面。柔性表层允许增大执行器间距而不影响物体操控能力，在保持稳定控制的同时显著降低了执行器密度，即使对于较小物体亦能实现有效操控。我们对阵列的耦合工作空间进行了表征，并开发出一种能够在N×N阵列中将物体平移至任意位置的操控策略。通过搭建最小化的2×2原型系统进行实验验证，该方法成功实现了对不同形状与尺寸物体的有效操控。