Stress-Sharing for Decentralized Fault Repair in Modular Spacecraft

Damaged robot spacecraft modules crawl toward the wound and reconnect, like cells healing a cut.

93%

of survivors

Survivors in largest connected piece

Tree structure, 160 modules, 30% randomly failed

How it works

Damage splits structure
When modules fail, a lattice spacecraft breaks into fragments. Repair must use only local sensing and never break connections further.
Spread distress, pivot inward
Neighbors of dead modules broadcast distress tokens. Safe-to-move modules roll toward the fault, then retrace moves to recover shape.
Survivors mostly regroup
Across up to 160 modules, roughly 80% or more of survivors join one body, improving as assemblies grow.

From the paper