Rhombic Dodecahedron Shape for Self-Assembling Robots

A self-assembling robotic system capable of approximating arbitrary three dimensional shapes utilizing repeated rhombic dodecahedron shaped modules is presented. This shape allows very simple rotational motions about its edges. Using this shape and the motion constraints it imposes, a distributed algorithm using localized information is created and simulated. The algorithm causes each module to move in an efficient manner without explicitly planning the entire motion of each module before hand. For most shapes the algorithm achieves full completion of the desired goal configuration. Example of a tea cup shape utilizing 441 modules with 100% completion is shown.