English
Related papers

Related papers: Characterizing Universal Reconfigurability of Modu…

200 papers

We present the first universal reconfiguration algorithm for transforming a modular robot between any two facet-connected square-grid configurations using pivot moves. More precisely, we show that five extra "helper" modules ("musketeers")…

In the modular robot reconfiguration problem, we are given $n$ cube-shaped modules (or robots) as well as two configurations, i.e., placements of the $n$ modules so that their union is face-connected. The goal is to find a sequence of moves…

Computational Geometry · Computer Science 2024-03-15 Zachary Abel , Hugo A. Akitaya , Scott Duke Kominers , Matias Korman , Frederick Stock

We study a new model of 3-dimensional modular self-reconfigurable robots Rhombic Dodecahedral (RD). By extending results on the 2D analog of this model we characterize the free space requirements for a pivoting move and investigate the…

Computational Geometry · Computer Science 2023-04-21 Hugo A. Akitaya , Frederick Stock

A configuration of $n$ unit-cube-shaped \textit{modules} (or \textit{robots}) is a lattice-aligned placement of the $n$ modules so that their union is face-connected. The reconfiguration problem aims at finding a sequence of moves that…

Computational Geometry · Computer Science 2025-07-08 Hugo Akitaya , Matias Korman , Frederick Stock

We introduce and analyze a model for self-reconfigurable robots made up of unit-cube modules. Compared to past models, our model aims to newly capture two important practical aspects of real-world robots. First, modules often do not occupy…

Micro- and nanorobots are often controlled by global input signals, such as an electromagnetic or gravitational field. These fields move each robot maximally until it hits a stationary obstacle or another stationary robot. This paper…

Robotics · Computer Science 2014-02-18 Aaron Becker , Erik D. Demaine , Sándor P. Fekete , James McLurkin

We study centralized reconfiguration problems for geometric amoebot structures. A set of $n$ amoebots occupy nodes on the triangular grid and can reconfigure via expansion and contraction operations. We focus on the joint movement…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2026-03-12 Manish Kumar , Othon Michail , Andreas Padalkin , Christian Scheideler

We study two well-known reconfiguration problems. Given a start and a target configuration of geometric objects in a polygon, we wonder whether we can move the objects from the start configuration to the target configuration while avoiding…

Computational Geometry · Computer Science 2024-12-31 Mikkel Abrahamsen , Kevin Buchin , Maike Buchin , Linda Kleist , Maarten Löffler , Lena Schlipf , André Schulz , Jack Stade

For lattice modular self-reconfigurable robots (MSRRs), maintaining stable connections during reconfiguration is crucial for physical feasibility and deployability. This letter presents a novel self-reconfiguration planning algorithm for…

Robotics · Computer Science 2026-01-28 Jie Gu , Hongrun Gao , Zhihao Xia , Yirun Sun , Chunxu Tian , Dan Zhang

We present a decentralized model for autonomous reconfiguration of homogeneous pivoting cube modular robots in two dimensions. Each cube in the ensemble is controlled by a neural network that only gains information from other cubes in its…

Neural and Evolutionary Computing · Computer Science 2025-09-04 Nadezhda Dobreva , Emmanuel Blazquez , Jai Grover , Dario Izzo , Yuzhen Qin , Dominik Dold

The sliding cubes model is a well-established theoretical framework that supports the analysis of reconfiguration algorithms for modular robots consisting of face-connected cubes. The best algorithm currently known for the reconfiguration…

Computational Geometry · Computer Science 2023-12-27 Irina Kostitsyna , Tim Ophelders , Irene Parada , Tom Peters , Willem Sonke , Bettina Speckmann

Consider a set of $n$ simple autonomous mobile robots (asynchronous, no common coordinate system, no identities, no central coordination, no direct communication, no memory of the past, non-rigid, deterministic) initially in distinct…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2017-03-30 Paola Flocchini , Giuseppe Prencipe , Nicola Santoro , Giovanni Viglietta

We are considering the geometric amoebot model where a set of $n$ amoebots is placed on the triangular grid. An amoebot is able to send information to its neighbors, and to move via expansions and contractions. Since amoebots and…

Robotics · Computer Science 2025-03-11 Andreas Padalkin , Manish Kumar , Christian Scheideler

We initiate a general theory for analyzing the complexity of motion planning of a single robot through a graph of "gadgets", each with their own state, set of locations, and allowed traversals between locations that can depend on and change…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2018-06-13 Erik D. Demaine , Isaac Grosof , Jayson Lynch , Mikhail Rudoy

A well-established theoretical model for modular robots in two dimensions are edge-connected configurations of square modules, which can reconfigure through so-called sliding moves. Dumitrescu and Pach [Graphs and Combinatorics, 2006]…

Reorientation (turning in plane) plays a critical role for all robots in any field application, especially those that in confined spaces. While important, reorientation remains a relatively unstudied problem for robots, including limbless…

Robotics · Computer Science 2022-03-04 Tianyu Wang , Baxi Chong , Yuelin Deng , Ruijie Fu , Howie Choset , Daniel I. Goldman

We consider the computational complexity of reconfiguration problems, in which one is given two combinatorial configurations satisfying some constraints, and is asked to transform one into the other using elementary transformations, while…

Computational Complexity · Computer Science 2020-01-17 Jean Cardinal , Erik D. Demaine , David Eppstein , Robert A. Hearn , Andrew Winslow

Reconfiguration problems require finding a step-by-step transformation between a pair of feasible solutions for a particular problem. The primary concern in Theoretical Computer Science has been revealing their computational complexity for…

Data Structures and Algorithms · Computer Science 2021-11-30 Naoto Ohsaka , Tatsuya Matsuoka

We consider a distributed system of n identical mobile robots operating in the two dimensional Euclidian plane. As in the previous studies, we consider the robots to be anonymous, oblivious, dis-oriented, and without any communication…

Distributed, Parallel, and Cluster Computing · Computer Science 2019-11-14 Shantanu Das , Giuseppe A. Di Luna , Paola Flocchini , Nicola Santoro , Giovanni Viglietta , Masafumi Yamashita

We present a decoupled algorithm for motion planning for a collection of unit-balls moving among polyhedral obstacles in $\mathbb{R}^d$, for any $d \ge 2$. We assume that the robots have revolving areas in the vicinity of their start and…

Computational Geometry · Computer Science 2018-07-17 Israela Solomon , Dan Halperin
‹ Prev 1 2 3 10 Next ›