On the computational power of energy-constrained mobile robots

Abstract

We consider distributed systems of autonomous robots operating in the plane under synchronous Look-Compute-Move (LCM) cycles. Prior research on four distinct models assumes robots have unlimited energy. We remove this assumption and investigate systems where robots have limited but renewable energy, requiring inactivity for energy restoration.

We analyze the computational impact of this constraint, fully characterizing the relationship between energy-restricted and unrestricted robots. Surprisingly, we show that energy constraints can enhance computational power.

Additionally, we study how memory persistence and communication capabilities influence computation under energy constraints. By comparing the four models in this setting, we establish a complete characterization of their computational relationships.

A key insight is that energy-limited robots can be modeled as unlimited-energy robots controlled by an adversarial activation scheduler. This provides a novel equivalence framework for analyzing energy-constrained distributed systems.