@inbook{60048, author = {{Gerlach, Raphael and von der Gracht, Sören and Dellnitz, Michael}}, booktitle = {{Lecture Notes in Computer Science}}, isbn = {{9783031917356}}, issn = {{0302-9743}}, publisher = {{Springer Nature Switzerland}}, title = {{{On the Dynamical Hierarchy in Gathering Protocols with Circulant Topologies}}}, doi = {{10.1007/978-3-031-91736-3_19}}, year = {{2025}}, } @inproceedings{56298, abstract = {{In the general pattern formation (GPF) problem, a swarm of simple autonomous, disoriented robots must form a given pattern. The robots' simplicity imply a strong limitation: When the initial configuration is rotationally symmetric, only patterns with a similar symmetry can be formed [Yamashita, Suzyuki; TCS 2010]. The only known algorithm to form large patterns with limited visibility and without memory requires the robots to start in a near-gathering (a swarm of constant diameter) [Hahn et al.; SAND 2024]. However, not only do we not know any near-gathering algorithm guaranteed to preserve symmetry but most natural gathering strategies trivially increase symmetries [Castenow et al.; OPODIS 2022]. Thus, we study near-gathering without changing the swarm's rotational symmetry for disoriented, oblivious robots with limited visibility (the OBLOT-model, see [Flocchini et al.; 2019]). We introduce a technique based on the theory of dynamical systems to analyze how a given algorithm affects symmetry and provide sufficient conditions for symmetry preservation. Until now, it was unknown whether the considered OBLOT-model allows for any non-trivial algorithm that always preserves symmetry. Our first result shows that a variant of Go-to-the-Average always preserves symmetry but may sometimes lead to multiple, unconnected near-gathering clusters. Our second result is a symmetry-preserving near-gathering algorithm that works on swarms with a convex boundary (the outer boundary of the unit disc graph) and without holes (circles of diameter 1 inside the boundary without any robots).}}, author = {{Gerlach, Raphael and von der Gracht, Sören and Hahn, Christopher and Harbig, Jonas and Kling, Peter}}, booktitle = {{28th International Conference on Principles of Distributed Systems (OPODIS 2024)}}, editor = {{Bonomi, Silvia and Galletta, Letterio and Rivière, Etienne and Schiavoni, Valerio}}, isbn = {{978-3-95977-360-7}}, issn = {{1868-8969}}, keywords = {{Swarm Algorithm, Swarm Robots, Distributed Algorithm, Pattern Formation, Limited Visibility, Oblivious}}, location = {{Lucca, Italy}}, publisher = {{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik}}, title = {{{Symmetry Preservation in Swarms of Oblivious Robots with Limited Visibility}}}, doi = {{10.4230/LIPIcs.OPODIS.2024.13}}, volume = {{324}}, year = {{2025}}, } @unpublished{58953, abstract = {{In this article, we investigate symmetry properties of distributed systems of mobile robots. We consider a swarm of n robots in the OBLOT model and analyze their collective Fsync dynamics using of equivariant dynamical systems theory. To this end, we show that the corresponding evolution function commutes with rotational and reflective transformations of R^2. These form a group that is isomorphic to O(2) x S_n, the product group of the orthogonal group and the permutation on n elements. The theory of equivariant dynamical systems is used to deduce a hierarchy along which symmetries of a robot swarm can potentially increase following an arbitrary protocol. By decoupling the Look phase from the Compute and Move phases in the mathematical description of an LCM cycle, this hierarchy can be characterized in terms of automorphisms of connectivity graphs. In particular, we find all possible types of symmetry increase, if the decoupled Compute and Move phase is invertible. Finally, we apply our results to protocols which induce state-dependent linear dynamics, where the reduced system consisting of only the Compute and Move phase is linear.}}, author = {{Gerlach, Raphael and von der Gracht, Sören}}, booktitle = {{arXiv:2503.07576}}, keywords = {{dynamical systems, coupled systems, distributed computing, robot swarms, autonomous mobile robots, symmetry, equivariant dynamics}}, pages = {{23}}, title = {{{Analyzing Symmetries of Swarms of Mobile Robots Using Equivariant Dynamical Systems}}}, year = {{2025}}, } @article{33947, author = {{Castenow, Jannik and Harbig, Jonas and Jung, Daniel and Knollmann, Till and Meyer auf der Heide, Friedhelm}}, issn = {{0304-3975}}, journal = {{Theoretical Computer Science}}, keywords = {{General Computer Science, Theoretical Computer Science}}, pages = {{261--291}}, publisher = {{Elsevier BV}}, title = {{{Gathering a Euclidean Closed Chain of Robots in Linear Time and Improved Algorithms for Chain-Formation}}}, doi = {{10.1016/j.tcs.2022.10.031}}, volume = {{939}}, year = {{2023}}, } @inproceedings{34008, author = {{Castenow, Jannik and Harbig, Jonas and Jung, Daniel and Kling, Peter and Knollmann, Till and Meyer auf der Heide, Friedhelm}}, booktitle = {{Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Principles of Distributed Systems (OPODIS) }}, editor = {{Hillel, Eshcar and Palmieri, Roberto and Riviére, Etienne}}, isbn = {{978-3-95977-265-5}}, issn = {{1868-8969}}, location = {{Brussels}}, pages = {{15:1–15:25}}, publisher = {{Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz Zentrum für Informatik}}, title = {{{A Unifying Approach to Efficient (Near-)Gathering of Disoriented Robots with Limited Visibility }}}, doi = {{10.4230/LIPIcs.OPODIS.2022.15}}, volume = {{253}}, year = {{2023}}, } @inbook{44769, author = {{Castenow, Jannik and Harbig, Jonas and Meyer auf der Heide, Friedhelm}}, booktitle = {{Lecture Notes in Computer Science}}, isbn = {{9783031304477}}, issn = {{0302-9743}}, publisher = {{Springer International Publishing}}, title = {{{Unifying Gathering Protocols for Swarms of Mobile Robots}}}, doi = {{10.1007/978-3-031-30448-4_1}}, year = {{2023}}, } @article{29843, author = {{Castenow, Jannik and Kling, Peter and Knollmann, Till and Meyer auf der Heide, Friedhelm}}, issn = {{0890-5401}}, journal = {{Information and Computation}}, keywords = {{Computational Theory and Mathematics, Computer Science Applications, Information Systems, Theoretical Computer Science}}, publisher = {{Elsevier BV}}, title = {{{A Discrete and Continuous Study of the Max-Chain-Formation Problem}}}, doi = {{10.1016/j.ic.2022.104877}}, year = {{2022}}, } @inproceedings{23730, author = {{Castenow, Jannik and Harbig, Jonas and Jung, Daniel and Knollmann, Till and Meyer auf der Heide, Friedhelm}}, booktitle = {{Proceedings of the 17th International Symposium on Algorithms and Experiments for Wireless Sensor Networks (ALGOSENSORS)}}, editor = {{Gasieniec, Leszek and Klasing, Ralf and Radzik, Tomasz}}, location = {{Lissabon}}, pages = {{29 -- 44}}, publisher = {{Springer}}, title = {{{Gathering a Euclidean Closed Chain of Robots in Linear Time}}}, doi = {{10.1007/978-3-030-89240-1_3}}, volume = {{12961}}, year = {{2021}}, } @inproceedings{26986, author = {{Castenow, Jannik and Götte, Thorsten and Knollmann, Till and Meyer auf der Heide, Friedhelm}}, booktitle = {{Proceedings of the 23rd International Symposium on Stabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems, SSS 2021}}, editor = {{Johnen, C. and Schiller, E.M. and Schmid, S.}}, location = {{Online}}, pages = {{289--304 }}, publisher = {{Springer}}, title = {{{The Max-Line-Formation Problem – And New Insights for Gathering and Chain-Formation}}}, doi = {{10.1007/978-3-030-91081-5_19}}, volume = {{13046}}, year = {{2021}}, }