Programmable self-assembly in a thousand-robot swarm

TLDR

Self‑assembly allows natural systems to form complex structures through many simple, unreliable agents, yet engineering such capability at scale demands overcoming significant algorithmic and physical design challenges. The study reports a system that demonstrates programmable self‑assembly of complex two‑dimensional shapes using a thousand‑robot swarm. The system employs autonomous robots that cooperate via local interactions and a robust collective shape‑formation algorithm designed for large, error‑prone decentralized groups. The demonstration shows that a thousand‑robot swarm can reliably self‑assemble complex shapes, advancing the goal of creating artificial swarms with natural‑like capabilities.

Abstract

Self-assembly enables nature to build complex forms, from multicellular organisms to complex animal structures such as flocks of birds, through the interaction of vast numbers of limited and unreliable individuals. Creating this ability in engineered systems poses challenges in the design of both algorithms and physical systems that can operate at such scales. We report a system that demonstrates programmable self-assembly of complex two-dimensional shapes with a thousand-robot swarm. This was enabled by creating autonomous robots designed to operate in large groups and to cooperate through local interactions and by developing a collective algorithm for shape formation that is highly robust to the variability and error characteristic of large-scale decentralized systems. This work advances the aim of creating artificial swarms with the capabilities of natural ones.