Moving and Computing (MAC) 2026

Overview

Distributed robot computing is the study of complexity and computability in systems where the computational entities themselves are capable of movement within the spatial universe they inhabit. The field has applications in areas as diverse as autonomous robots moving in a terrain, software agents moving in a network, autonomous intelligent vehicles, wireless mobile ad-hoc networks, and networks of mobile sensors.

The goal of the MAC research meeting is to bring together researchers working in these areas to exchange problems, ideas, techniques, and results; to create a clearer picture of the state of the art in the field; to identify outstanding open problems and research directions; and to foster collaborative investigation of selected problems. The event includes participation by graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, who can attend it as a research school.

This edition is held as a one-day workshop co-located with DISC 2026 in Rome, Italy.

Committee

Scientific Committee

Paola Flocchini — School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa, Canada
Giuseppe Prencipe — Dipartimento di Informatica, University of Pisa, Italy
Nicola Santoro — School of Computer Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
Sébastien Tixeuil — LIP6, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
Koichi Wada — Department of Applied Informatics, Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan

Local Organization

Handled by the DISC 2026 local organizing committee.

Program

Friday, 13 November 2026

Time	Session
09:00 – 11:00	Tutorial: Pattern Formation Yukiko Yamauchi — Kyushu University, Japan Tutorial: Fault Tolerance and Byzantine Robots Sayaka Kamei — Hiroshima University, Japan and Quentin Bramas — University of Strasbourg, France Tutorial: Programmable Matter Alfredo Navarra — University of Perugia, Italy
11:00 – 11:25	Coffee break
11:25 – 12:30	Tutorial: Computational Landscapes Caterina Feletti — Carleton University and University of Ottawa, Canada Tutorial: Population Protocols Yuichi Sudo — Hosei University, Japan
12:30 – 13:45	Lunch
13:45 – 15:40	Separation of Unconscious Colored Robots with Obstructed Visibility Partha Sarathi Mandal — IIT Guwahati, India Gathering of Homonymous Agents Arnaud Labourel — Aix-Marseille Université, France Autonomous Distributed Mobile Robot Model Using Directional Information Only Yoshiaki Katayama — Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan Exploration of Discrete Spaces: Agents Meeting Turing Machines Rastislav Kráľovič — Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia Oblivious Self-Distance Symmetric Rendezvous on the Integer Line Konstantinos Georgiou — Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada Self-Stabilizing Algorithms for Programmable Matter Shantanu Das — Aix-Marseille Université, France
15:40 – 16:00	Coffee break
16:00 – 18:00	Gathering in Symmetric Graphs under Round Robin: General Results and Optimal Algorithm for Hypercubes Serafino Cicerone — University of L’Aquila, Italy Gathering Under Round Robin for Almost all Graphs Alessia Di Fonso — University of L’Aquila, Italy Formal Proofs in Mobile Robots Lionel Rieg — Université Grenoble Alpes, France Let the Environment Compute: Autonomous Mobile Robots on a Cellular Automaton Field Yonghwan Kim — Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan The Complexity Landscape of Anonymous Dynamic Broadcast Joshua Daymude — Arizona State University, USA Black Hole Search in Dynamic Graphs with Fewer Agents Avery Miller — University of Manitoba, Canada

Resources

DISC 2026 conference site Venue, accommodation, travel, registration & costs MAC History All past editions of the research meeting MAC Book Distributed Computing by Mobile Entities (Springer LNCS 11340) Photos Event photo album