Reconfiguration is widely used for evolving and adapting systems that cannot be shut down for update. However, in distributed systems, supporting reconfiguration is a challenging task since a reconfiguration consists of distributed reconfiguration actions that need to be coordinated and the application consistency must be preserved. To address this challenge, we propose a framework based on a r...

Modular self-reconfigurable robots consist of large numbers (hundreds or thousands) of identical modules that possess the ability to reconfigure into different shapes as required by the task at hand. For example, such a robot could start out as a snake to traverse a narrow pipe, then re-assemble itself into a six-legged spider to move over uneven terrain, growing a pair of arms to pick up and m...

Self-adaptive systems have the ability to autonomously reconfigure their structure in order to meet specific goals. Such systems often include a planning component, computing plans of reconfiguration steps. However, despite the fact that reconfigurations take time in reality, most planning approaches for self-adaptive systems are non-temporal. In this paper, we present a model-based approach to...

We demonstrate how simple local sensing and control rules achieve useful emergent behaviors in modular self-reconfigurable (metamorphic) robots. Our biologically inspired approach grows structures with the desired functionality even though the final shapes have some unspecified, random variation. By contrast, other self-reconfiguration algorithms require an a-priori exact description of a targe...

Self-reconfigurable robots are built from modules, which are autonomously able to change the way they are connected. Such a robot can, through this self-reconfiguration process, change its shape. The process has proven to be difficult to control, because it involves control of a distributed system of mechanically coupled modules connected in time-varying ways. In this paper we present an approa...

The promise of self-management is to increase the dependability of complex software systems and its quality-of-service. However, self-management is a very complex task if implemented manually at code level. It introduces high risks to the system’s maintainability and dependability. Model-driven development of self-management at the architectural level is a promising alternative to manual low-le...

The new generations of SRAM-based FPGA devices, built on nanometer technology, are the preferred choice for the implementation of reconfigurable computing platforms. However, smaller technological scales increase their vulnerability to manufacturing imperfections and hence to the occurrence of electromigration. Moreover, the large internal RAM (for configuration purposes or as embedded memory b...

Self-reconfigurable robots are designed so that they can change their external shape without human intervention. One general way to achieve such functionality is to build a robot composed of multiple, identical unit modules. If the modules are designed so that they can be assembled into rigid structures, and so that individual units within such structures can be relocated within and about the s...