RS-ModCubes is a comprehensive simulation, control, and mission planning framework for self-reconfigurable, scalable modular underwater robots. This system enables the simulation and control of multiple cubic robotic modules that can autonomously reconfigure to form different morphologies for various underwater operations.

• Modular Self-Reconfiguration: Dynamic morphology adaptation during missions
• Underwater Physics Simulation: Comprehensive hydrodynamic modeling with Gazebo
• Mission Planning: Autonomous navigation and task execution
• Teleoperation Support: Real-time human-robot interaction
• Multi-Robot Coordination: Scalable swarm behavior implementation
• Extensible Framework: Modular ROS-based architecture

• Paper: RS-ModCubes: Self-Reconfigurable, Scalable Modular Cubic Robots for Underwater Operations
• Project Website: https://jiaxi-zheng.github.io/ModCube.github.io
• Base Framework: CMU TartanAUV Team (Kingfisher)

The RS-ModCubes framework is built on a modular ROS-based architecture designed for scalability and flexibility:

graph TB
    A[Mission Planning Layer] --> B[Control Layer]
    B --> C[Simulation Layer]
    C --> D[Hardware Interface Layer]
    
    A --> E[modcube_mission]
    B --> F[modcube_common]
    C --> G[modcube_sim]
    D --> H[modcube_vehicle]
    
    E --> I[Path Planning]
    E --> J[Task Execution]
    F --> K[Controllers]
    F --> L[State Estimation]
    G --> M[Gazebo Plugins]
    G --> N[Physics Models]
    H --> O[Sensor Drivers]
    H --> P[Actuator Control]

# Required ROS distribution
ROS Melodic or Noetic

# Dependencies
sudo apt-get install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-gazebo-*
sudo apt-get install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-uuv-simulator

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/your-username/ModCube.git
cd ModCube

# Build the workspace
catkin build

# Source the workspace
source devel/setup.bash

# Start the basic simulation
roslaunch modcube_sim kingfisher_umd_sim.launch

# For multi-robot simulation
roslaunch modcube_sim multi_robot_sim.launch num_robots:=4

# Start teleoperation interface
roslaunch modcube_mission teleop_mission.launch

# Start autonomous mission
roslaunch modcube_mission autonomous_mission.launch mission_file:=sample_mission.yaml

# Set navigation goal (position + orientation quaternion)
rostopic pub /modcube/goto geometry_msgs/PoseStamped "
header:
  frame_id: 'world'
pose:
  position: {x: 2.0, y: 2.0, z: 2.0}
  orientation: {x: 0.0, y: 0.0, z: 0.0, w: 1.0}"

# Or use the simplified command interface
goto 2 2 2 1 1 1 1

Create custom robot configurations by modifying URDF files:

# Edit robot description
roscd modcube_config/modcube_sim_description/urdf/
# Modify default.xacro for single robot
# Modify default_4_modcube.xacro for quad configuration

Define custom missions using YAML configuration:

# sample_mission.yaml
mission:
  name: "exploration_mission"
  waypoints:
    - {x: 0, y: 0, z: 0}
    - {x: 5, y: 0, z: -2}
    - {x: 5, y: 5, z: -2}
  tasks:
    - type: "survey"
      duration: 30
    - type: "sample_collection"
      target: "object_1"

Tune control parameters via ROS parameters:

# View current parameters
rosparam list /modcube/

# Set PID gains
rosparam set /modcube/controller/pid_gains/kp 1.0
rosparam set /modcube/controller/pid_gains/ki 0.1
rosparam set /modcube/controller/pid_gains/kd 0.01

# Run all tests
catkin run_tests

# Run specific package tests
catkin run_tests modcube_common

# Test basic functionality
rostest modcube_sim basic_simulation.test

# Test multi-robot scenarios
rostest modcube_sim multi_robot.test

The framework has been validated with the following performance characteristics:

• Real-time Factor: 0.8-1.0 (depends on system configuration)
• Control Frequency: 50-100 Hz
• Simulation Accuracy: <5% error in hydrodynamic forces
• Multi-robot Scalability: Tested up to 8 robots simultaneously

• Follow ROS C++ Style Guide
• Use clang-format for code formatting
• Include comprehensive unit tests
• Document public APIs with Doxygen

If you use RS-ModCubes in your research, please cite our work:

@article{zheng2025rs,
  title={Rs-modcubes: Self-reconfigurable, scalable, modular cubic robots for underwater operations},
  author={Zheng, Jiaxi and Dai, Guangmin and He, Botao and Mu, Zhaoyang and Meng, Zhaochen and Zhang, Tianyi and Zhi, Weiming and Fan, Dixia},
  journal={IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters},
  year={2025},
  publisher={IEEE}
}

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

• CMU TartanAUV Team for the foundational Kingfisher framework
• UUV Simulator community for the underwater simulation tools
• ROS community for the robotics middleware

• UUV Simulator
• TartanAUV
• ROS
• Gazebo