Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3864-3296

Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Committee Chair

Yu Gu

Committee Co-Chair

Jason Gross

Committee Member

Nicholas Szczecinski

Abstract

Autonomous robotic systems are increasingly used in both engineering education and robotics research, creating a need for systems capable of supporting both within a common platform. This thesis presents SMARTbot V3, a scalable robotics platform developed to support undergraduate robotics education and multi-robot research.

SMARTbot V3 is a differential-drive mobile manipulator incorporating a 3-degree-of-freedom manipulator, LiDAR, RGB cameras, onboard computation, and Robot Operating System 2 (ROS2) software. The platform was designed to support scalable deployment through standardized hardware, modular construction, and common software. A fleet of twenty robots was manufactured and deployed for both educational and research activities. Educational validation was performed through deployment within West Virginia University's ROBE 412 Mobile Robotics course, where students utilized the platform to complete a half-semester autonomous construction project.

To demonstrate the research capabilities of the platform, a decentralized construction algorithm was developed and implemented on SMARTbot V3. The shared algorithm enables multiple robots to contribute to a common structure without requiring inter-robot communication or a shared world model. Construction decisions are generated using a fluid-flow-inspired placement field based solely on locally available information and environmental observations.

Simulation studies and physical robot experiments were conducted to evaluate the proposed algorithm. Results demonstrate that multiple robots maintaining independent representations of the environment can successfully contribute to a common structure through stigmergic interaction alone. The work demonstrates the suitability of SMARTbot V3 as a common platform for robotics education and multi-robot research while validating a decentralized approach to autonomous construction.

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