arXiv subjects

Raphael Gerlach

Publications and source records attributed to Raphael Gerlach.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Analyzing Symmetries of Swarms of Mobile Robots Using Equivariant Dynamical Systems

In this article, we investigate symmetry properties of distributed systems of mobile robots. We consider a swarm of $n\in\mathbb{N}$ robots in the $\mathcal{OBLOT}$ model and analyze their collective $\mathcal{F}$sync dynamics using of equivariant dynamical systems theory. To this end, we show that the corresponding evolution function commutes with rotational and reflective transformations of $\mathbb{R}^2$. These form a group that is isomorphic to $\mathbf{O}(2) \times S_n$, 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.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2024

Symmetry Preservation in Swarms of Oblivious Robots with Limited Visibility

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).

cs.RO↗

arXiv2023

On the Dynamical Hierarchy in Gathering Protocols with Circulant Topologies

In this article, we investigate the convergence behavior of two classes of gathering protocols with fixed circulant topologies using tools from dynamical systems. Given a fixed number of mobile entities moving in the Euclidean plane, we model a gathering protocol as a system of (linear) ordinary differential equations whose equilibria are exactly all possible gathering points. Then, for a circulant topology we derive a decomposition of the state space into stable invariant subspaces with different convergence rates by utilizing tools from dynamical systems theory. It turns out, that this decomposition is identical for every linear circulant gathering protocol, whereas only the convergence rates depend on the weights in interaction graph itself. In the second part, we consider a normalized nonlinear version of the equation of motion that is obtained by scaling the speed of each entity. Again, we find a similar decomposition of the state space that is based on our findings in the linear case. Finally, we also consider visibility preservation properties of the two classes of system.

math.DS↗

arXiv2019

On the Equivariance Properties of Self-adjoint Matrices

We investigate self-adjoint matrices $A\in\mathbb{R}^{n,n}$ with respect to their equivariance properties. We show in particular that a matrix is self-adjoint if and only if it is equivariant with respect to the action of a group $Γ_2(A)\subset \mathbf{O}(n)$ which is isomorphic to $\otimes_{k=1}^n\mathbf{Z}_2$. If the self-adjoint matrix possesses multiple eigenvalues -- this may, for instance, be induced by symmetry properties of an underlying dynamical system -- then $A$ is even equivariant with respect to the action of a group $Γ(A) \simeq \prod_{i = 1}^k \mathbf{O}(m_i)$ where $m_1,\ldots,m_k$ are the multiplicities of the eigenvalues $λ_1,\ldots,λ_k$ of $A$. We discuss implications of this result for equivariant bifurcation problems, and we briefly address further applications for the Procrustes problem, graph symmetries and Taylor expansions.

math.DS↗

arXiv2019

Revealing the intrinsic geometry of finite dimensional invariant sets of infinite dimensional dynamical systems

Embedding techniques allow the approximations of finite dimensional attractors and manifolds of infinite dimensional dynamical systems via subdivision and continuation methods. These approximations give a topological one-to-one image of the original set. In order to additionally reveal their geometry we use diffusion mapst o find intrinsic coordinates. We illustrate our results on the unstable manifold of the one-dimensional Kuramoto--Sivashinsky equation, as well as for the attractor of the Mackey-Glass delay differential equation.

math.DS↗

arXiv2018

The numerical computation of unstable manifolds for infinite dimensional dynamical systems by embedding techniques

In this work we extend the novel framework developed by Dellnitz, Hessel-von Molo and Ziessler to the computation of finite dimensional unstable manifolds of infinite dimensional dynamical systems. To this end, we adapt a set-oriented continuation technique developed by Dellnitz and Hohmann for the computation of such objects of finite dimensional systems with the results obtained in the work of Dellnitz, Hessel-von Molo and Ziessler. We show how to implement this approach for the analysis of partial differential equations and illustrate its feasibility by computing unstable manifolds of the one-dimensional Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation as well as for the Mackey-Glass delay differential equation.

math.DS↗