Clock synchronization mechanism for a distributed autonomous system

A self-configurable mechanical system is being developed at the Mechanical Engineering Laboratory. The system is composed of many identical mechanical units and each unit can communicate with its neighbor units. When the units generate cooperative motion, it is required to establish common clock timing. In this paper, an algorithm is proposed to establish the common clock without being trapped in a dead lock condition. In this method, all units follow the same procedure in a distributed way, that is, there is no central control unit in the system. The operation of the units is analyzed with a physical spring damper model. It is concluded that the common timing can be established if an inner parameter is chosen correctly.