Algorithms for Self-Detection of Mechanical Stability in Programmable Matter

<title>Abstract</title> <p>As with swarm robots, programmable matter consists of modular robots that work together to achieve a common goal. However, in the case of programmable matter, the robots are necessarily linked by mechanical connections to form a cohesive, communicating, and intelligent system. Mechanical connections maintain the system’s integrity; however, external forces can break these connections. In this paper, we propose static and dynamic algorithms that enable a robotic system to verify its mechanical stability and assess that stability when the system changes shape. We propose several fully distributed algorithms that enable a robotic system to assess its balance and the mechanical state of its internal links, both for its current state and for the configuration it will assume after a reconfiguration. We have evaluated these algorithms on real robots and in simulation.</p>