The ensemble axiom is an

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

concept which states that if an engineer designs parts to cooperate with each other in an

ensemble Ensemble may refer to: Art * Architectural ensemble * Ensemble (album), ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album * Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary * Ensemble cast (drama, comedy) * Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the ...

, he or she can simplify the parts and the ensemble will operate better. This term is used within a research area called

self-reconfiguring modular robot Modular self-reconfiguring robotic systems or self-reconfigurable modular robots are autonomous kinematic machines with variable morphology. Beyond conventional actuation, sensing and control typically found in fixed-morphology robots, self-reconf ...

ics, and specifically within

claytronics Claytronics is an abstract future concept that combines nanoscale robotics and computer science to create individual nanometer-scale computers called claytronic atoms, or ''catoms'', which can interact with each other to form tangible 3D objects ...

, where it is stated as: A catom includes only enough functionality to contribute to the functionality desired in the claytronic ensemble.Claytronics Research Building synthetic reality from technological concept to engineered project

References

* The

Robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may ...

is the

Tether A tether is a cord, fixture, or flexible attachment that characteristically anchors something movable to something fixed; it also maybe used to connect two movable objects, such as an item being towed by its tow. Applications for tethers includ ...

: Active, Adaptive Power Routing for Modular Robots With Unary Inter-robot Connectors by Jason Campbell, Padmanabhan Pillai and Seth Copen Goldstein https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~seth/The%20robot%20is%20the%20tether.pdf * Claytronics Research Building synthetic reality from technological concept to engineered project https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~claytronics/claytronics/creating.html Adaptable robotics {{robot-stub