Leader election and shape formation with self-organizing programmable matter

Abstract

In this paper we consider programmable matter consisting of simple computational elements, called particles, that can establish and release bonds and can actively move in a self-organized way, and we investigate the feasibility of solving fundamental problems relevant for programmable matter. As a model for such self-organizing particle systems, we will use a generalization of the geometric amoebot model first proposed in [21]. Based on the geometric model, we present efficient localcontrol algorithms for leader election and line formation requiring only particles with constant size memory, and we also discuss the limitations of solving these problems within the general amoebot model.