Work

Line formation and scattering in silent programmable matter

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Programmable Matter (PM) has been widely investigated in recent years. It refers to some kind of substance with the ability to change its physical properties (e.g., shape or color) in a programmable way. In this paper, we refer to the SILBOT model, where the particles live and move on a triangular grid, are asynchronous in their computations and movements, and do not possess any direct means of communication (silent) or memory of past events (oblivious). Within SILBOT , we aim at studying Spanning problems, i.e., problems where the particles are required to suitably span all over the grid. We first address the Line Formation problem where the particles are required to end up in a configuration where they all lie on a line, i.e., they are aligned and connected. Secondly, we deal with the more general Scattering problem: starting from any initial configuration, we aim at reaching a final one where no particles occupy neighboring nodes. Furthermore, we investigate configurations where some nodes of the grid can be occupied by unmovable elements (i.e., obstacles) from both theoretical and experimental view points.

Source: Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpdc.2025.105129

Authors: Alfredo Navarra, Francesco Piselli, Giuseppe Prencipe

Institutions: University of Perugia, University of Pisa

Language: English

Topic: Modular Robots and Swarm Intelligence

Subfield: Mechanical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,250

Funder: Gruppo Nazionale per il Calcolo Scientifico