Nonreciprocal Swarmalators With Reconfigurable and Controllable Formations for Robot Collectives

We use the swarmalator model to enable nonreciprocal coupling between agents and demonstrate that by controlling these time‐varying interactions between the agents, the collective can be made to exhibit controllable shape formation, motion, obstacle avoidance, and object transport, all of which are realized by modulating the asymmetric coupling between agents. Target formations are represented as forward‐invariant geometric sets whose boundaries encode desired shapes, and safety and formation constraints are enforced through quadratic programs that minimally alter the swarmalator model‐induced velocities. Our framework supports a broad class of two‐ and three‐dimensional formations, including smooth and non‐convex shapes, annular and shell‐like structures, and polyhedron geometries with sharp corners that are realized through piecewise barrier functions. We also demonstrate that time‐varying barrier functions can be used to enable continuous morphing between formations, and that emergent and controllable motion through mazes and cluttered environments can be achieved while the collective remains in a desired formation. Finally, we show an integrated demonstration that combines collective splitting, parallel navigation, and contact‐driven transport and assembly of objects to highlight how functional tasks can be achieved by systematically reconfiguring the system's constraints and objectives while having each agent remain subject to the swarmalator model.