Module-based Modelling and Assessment of Modular Robots w.r.t. Energy Efficiency

By: Antonios Naguib, Olga Kouchnarenko, Frédéric Lassabe

Abstract

Modular robots are cyber-physical systems composed of elements similar in nature that collaborate for a common global goal. This paper reports on a formal modelling of modular robots using Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) supported by the PRISM tools. The novelty of our modelling approach consists in incorporating empirical data and feedback from energy-dependent components collected thanks to an instrumentation of real modular robots called Blinky Blocks. While using PRISM modules for specifying individual robots or motifs composed of Blinky Blocks in their environment, the collected data are used for probabilistic transitions and non-deterministic choice, as well as for rewards to estimate energy availability that impacts fallback behaviours and actuation success. Afterwards, PRISM allows performing model-based analysis of safety, recovery, and energy-boundness under non-deterministic choice of the environment, and a model-based simulation on scenarios of interest. Comparing the obtained simulation results to those observed on real individual robots and their motifs provides useful insights for the developers, such as anomalous consumption patterns or inter-module variability. The designed trustworthy models can then be used for designing and validating adaptation policies for modular robots.

Keywords

Model-based engineering, Modular robots, Energy efficiency, Probabilistic model checking, Markov decision processes

Cite as:

Antonios Naguib, Olga Kouchnarenko, Frédéric Lassabe, “Module-based Modelling and Assessment of Modular Robots w.r.t. Energy Efficiency”, Journal of Object Technology, Volume 25, no. 3 ( 2026), pp. 3:197-210, doi:10.5381/jot.2026.25.3.a15.