Interbody Wire for Reconfigurable Robots: Bridging Integrated Morphological Reconfiguration and Distributed Wire‐Mediated Cooperation

Reconfigurable robots address diverse tasks, including locomotion and object manipulation, by changing body configurations. In particular, modular robots expand body functions by connecting multiple body elements into various structures. However, these elements are typically mechanically fixed, and the focus is on functions as a single body after docking. This study proposes TwinX, a robot system in which a single interbody wire connects integrated morphological reconfiguration in the docked state and functional relations among distributed bodies in the separated state. TwinX consists of two wheeled‐legged robots connected by this wire and docks and reconfigures by winding it. Even when the two bodies are distributed, the same wire can be used for object manipulation and force transmission. Real‐robot experiments show quadrupedal and swerve‐drive locomotion in the docked state, as well as object manipulation using the mobile manipulator configuration. They also show enclosure, hooking, and force‐transmission tasks in the distributed state. These results show that the interbody wire extends functional expansion through changes in body configuration to include distributed body relations. Furthermore, it positions the interbody wire as a design element for robot bodies that is different from rigid links and joints because it enables maintained, variable‐length, and tension‐based relations between body elements.