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Documents authored by Kostitsyna, Irina

Document
Media Exposition
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2024.89
Optimal In-Place Compaction of Sliding Cubes (Media Exposition)

Authors: Irina Kostitsyna, Tim Ophelders, Irene Parada, Tom Peters, Willem Sonke, and Bettina Speckmann

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 293, 40th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2024)

Abstract
The sliding cubes model is a well-established theoretical framework that supports the analysis of reconfiguration algorithms for modular robots consisting of face-connected cubes. This note accompanies a video that explains our in-place algorithm for reconfiguration in the sliding cubes model. Specifically, our algorithm [Irina Kostitsyna et al., 2023] reconfigures any n-cube configuration into a compact canonical shape using a number of moves proportional to the sum of coordinates of the input cubes. As is common in the literature, we can then reconfigure between two arbitrary shapes via their canonical configurations. The number of moves performed by our algorithm is asymptotically worst-case optimal and strictly improves upon the current state-of-the-art.
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Irina Kostitsyna, Tim Ophelders, Irene Parada, Tom Peters, Willem Sonke, and Bettina Speckmann. Optimal In-Place Compaction of Sliding Cubes (Media Exposition). In 40th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 293, pp. 89:1-89:4, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)

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@InProceedings{kostitsyna_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2024.89,
  author =	{Kostitsyna, Irina and Ophelders, Tim and Parada, Irene and Peters, Tom and Sonke, Willem and Speckmann, Bettina},
  title =	{{Optimal In-Place Compaction of Sliding Cubes}},
  booktitle =	{40th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2024)},
  pages =	{89:1--89:4},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-316-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{293},
  editor =	{Mulzer, Wolfgang and Phillips, Jeff M.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2024.89},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-200347},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2024.89},
  annote =	{Keywords: Sliding cubes, Reconfiguration algorithm, Modular robots}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2024.31
Optimal In-Place Compaction of Sliding Cubes

Authors: Irina Kostitsyna, Tim Ophelders, Irene Parada, Tom Peters, Willem Sonke, and Bettina Speckmann

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 294, 19th Scandinavian Symposium and Workshops on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2024)

Abstract
The sliding cubes model is a well-established theoretical framework that supports the analysis of reconfiguration algorithms for modular robots consisting of face-connected cubes. As is common in the literature, we focus on reconfiguration via an intermediate canonical shape. Specifically, we present an in-place algorithm that reconfigures any n-cube configuration into a compact canonical shape using a number of moves proportional to the sum of coordinates of the input cubes. This result is asymptotically optimal and strictly improves on all prior work. Furthermore, our algorithm directly extends to dimensions higher than three.
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Irina Kostitsyna, Tim Ophelders, Irene Parada, Tom Peters, Willem Sonke, and Bettina Speckmann. Optimal In-Place Compaction of Sliding Cubes. In 19th Scandinavian Symposium and Workshops on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 294, pp. 31:1-31:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)

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@InProceedings{kostitsyna_et_al:LIPIcs.SWAT.2024.31,
  author =	{Kostitsyna, Irina and Ophelders, Tim and Parada, Irene and Peters, Tom and Sonke, Willem and Speckmann, Bettina},
  title =	{{Optimal In-Place Compaction of Sliding Cubes}},
  booktitle =	{19th Scandinavian Symposium and Workshops on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2024)},
  pages =	{31:1--31:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-318-8},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{294},
  editor =	{Bodlaender, Hans L.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2024.31},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-200713},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2024.31},
  annote =	{Keywords: Sliding cubes, Reconfiguration algorithm, Modular robots}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2024.34
Reconfiguration Algorithms for Cubic Modular Robots with Realistic Movement Constraints

Authors: MIT-NASA Space Robots Team, Josh Brunner, Kenneth C. Cheung, Erik D. Demaine, Jenny Diomidova, Christine Gregg, Della H. Hendrickson, and Irina Kostitsyna

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 294, 19th Scandinavian Symposium and Workshops on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2024)

Abstract
We introduce and analyze a model for self-reconfigurable robots made up of unit-cube modules. Compared to past models, our model aims to newly capture two important practical aspects of real-world robots. First, modules often do not occupy an exact unit cube, but rather have features like bumps extending outside the allotted space so that modules can interlock. Thus, for example, our model forbids modules from squeezing in between two other modules that are one unit distance apart. Second, our model captures the practical scenario of many passive modules assembled by a single robot, instead of requiring all modules to be able to move on their own. We prove two universality results. First, with a supply of auxiliary modules, we show that any connected polycube structure can be constructed by a carefully aligned plane sweep. Second, without additional modules, we show how to construct any structure for which a natural notion of external feature size is at least a constant; this property largely consolidates forbidden-pattern properties used in previous works on reconfigurable modular robots.
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MIT-NASA Space Robots Team, Josh Brunner, Kenneth C. Cheung, Erik D. Demaine, Jenny Diomidova, Christine Gregg, Della H. Hendrickson, and Irina Kostitsyna. Reconfiguration Algorithms for Cubic Modular Robots with Realistic Movement Constraints. In 19th Scandinavian Symposium and Workshops on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 294, pp. 34:1-34:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)

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@InProceedings{mitnasaspacerobotsteam_et_al:LIPIcs.SWAT.2024.34,
  author =	{MIT-NASA Space Robots Team and Brunner, Josh and Cheung, Kenneth C. and Demaine, Erik D. and Diomidova, Jenny and Gregg, Christine and Hendrickson, Della H. and Kostitsyna, Irina},
  title =	{{Reconfiguration Algorithms for Cubic Modular Robots with Realistic Movement Constraints}},
  booktitle =	{19th Scandinavian Symposium and Workshops on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2024)},
  pages =	{34:1--34:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-318-8},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{294},
  editor =	{Bodlaender, Hans L.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2024.34},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-200742},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2024.34},
  annote =	{Keywords: Modular robotics, programmable matter, digital materials, motion planning}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/DagRep.13.2.183
Algorithmic Foundations of Programmable Matter (Dagstuhl Seminar 23091)

Authors: Aaron Becker, Sándor Fekete, Irina Kostitsyna, Matthew J. Patitz, Damien Woods, and Ioannis Chatzigiannakis

Published in: Dagstuhl Reports, Volume 13, Issue 2 (2023)

Abstract
This report documents the program and the outcomes of Dagstuhl Seminar 23091, "Algorithmic Foundations of Programmable Matter", a new and emerging field that combines theoretical work on algorithms with a wide spectrum of practical applications that reach all the way from small-scale embedded systems to cyber-physical structures at nano-scale. The aim of this seminar was to bring together researchers from computational geometry, distributed computing, DNA computing, and swarm robotics who have worked on programmable matter to inform one another about the newest developments in each area and to discuss future models, approaches, and directions for new research. Similar to the first two Dagstuhl Seminars on programmable matter (16271 and 18331), we did focus on some basic problems, but also considered new problems that were now within reach to be studied.
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Aaron Becker, Sándor Fekete, Irina Kostitsyna, Matthew J. Patitz, Damien Woods, and Ioannis Chatzigiannakis. Algorithmic Foundations of Programmable Matter (Dagstuhl Seminar 23091). In Dagstuhl Reports, Volume 13, Issue 2, pp. 183-198, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2023)

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@Article{becker_et_al:DagRep.13.2.183,
  author =	{Becker, Aaron and Fekete, S\'{a}ndor and Kostitsyna, Irina and Patitz, Matthew J. and Woods, Damien and Chatzigiannakis, Ioannis},
  title =	{{Algorithmic Foundations of Programmable Matter (Dagstuhl Seminar 23091)}},
  pages =	{183--198},
  journal =	{Dagstuhl Reports},
  ISSN =	{2192-5283},
  year =	{2023},
  volume =	{13},
  number =	{2},
  editor =	{Becker, Aaron and Fekete, S\'{a}ndor and Kostitsyna, Irina and Patitz, Matthew J. and Woods, Damien and Chatzigiannakis, Ioannis},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/DagRep.13.2.183},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-191848},
  doi =		{10.4230/DagRep.13.2.183},
  annote =	{Keywords: computational geometry, distributed algorithms, DNA computing, programmable matter, swarm robotics}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2023.27
Fast Reconfiguration for Programmable Matter

Authors: Irina Kostitsyna, Tom Peters, and Bettina Speckmann

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 281, 37th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2023)

Abstract
The concept of programmable matter envisions a very large number of tiny and simple robot particles forming a smart material. Even though the particles are restricted to local communication, local movement, and simple computation, their actions can nevertheless result in the global change of the material’s physical properties and geometry. A fundamental algorithmic task for programmable matter is to achieve global shape reconfiguration by specifying local behavior of the particles. In this paper we describe a new approach for shape reconfiguration in the amoebot model. The amoebot model is a distributed model which significantly restricts memory, computing, and communication capacity of the individual particles. Thus the challenge lies in coordinating the actions of particles to produce the desired behavior of the global system. Our reconfiguration algorithm is the first algorithm that does not use a canonical intermediate configuration when transforming between arbitrary shapes. We introduce new geometric primitives for amoebots and show how to reconfigure particle systems, using these primitives, in a linear number of activation rounds in the worst case. In practice, our method exploits the geometry of the symmetric difference between input and output shape: it minimizes unnecessary disassembly and reassembly of the particle system when the symmetric difference between the initial and the target shapes is small. Furthermore, our reconfiguration algorithm moves the particles over as many parallel shortest paths as the problem instance allows.
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Irina Kostitsyna, Tom Peters, and Bettina Speckmann. Fast Reconfiguration for Programmable Matter. In 37th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2023). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 281, pp. 27:1-27:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2023)

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@InProceedings{kostitsyna_et_al:LIPIcs.DISC.2023.27,
  author =	{Kostitsyna, Irina and Peters, Tom and Speckmann, Bettina},
  title =	{{Fast Reconfiguration for Programmable Matter}},
  booktitle =	{37th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2023)},
  pages =	{27:1--27:21},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-301-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2023},
  volume =	{281},
  editor =	{Oshman, Rotem},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2023.27},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-191533},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2023.27},
  annote =	{Keywords: Programmable matter, amoebot model, shape reconfiguration}
}
Document
Brief Announcement
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2022.47
Brief Announcement: An Effective Geometric Communication Structure for Programmable Matter

Authors: Irina Kostitsyna, Tom Peters, and Bettina Speckmann

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 246, 36th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2022)

Abstract
The concept of programmable matter envisions a very large number of tiny and simple robot particles forming a smart material that can change its physical properties and shape based on the outcome of computation and movement performed by the individual particles in a concurrent manner. We use geometric insights to develop a new type of shortest path tree for programmable matter systems. Our feather trees utilize geometry to allow particles and information to traverse the programmable matter structure via shortest paths even in the presence of multiple overlapping trees.
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Irina Kostitsyna, Tom Peters, and Bettina Speckmann. Brief Announcement: An Effective Geometric Communication Structure for Programmable Matter. In 36th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2022). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 246, pp. 47:1-47:3, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2022)

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@InProceedings{kostitsyna_et_al:LIPIcs.DISC.2022.47,
  author =	{Kostitsyna, Irina and Peters, Tom and Speckmann, Bettina},
  title =	{{Brief Announcement: An Effective Geometric Communication Structure for Programmable Matter}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2022)},
  pages =	{47:1--47:3},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-255-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2022},
  volume =	{246},
  editor =	{Scheideler, Christian},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2022.47},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-172386},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2022.47},
  annote =	{Keywords: Programmable matter, amoebot model, shape reconfiguration}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.DNA.28.9
Fault-Tolerant Shape Formation in the Amoebot Model

Authors: Irina Kostitsyna, Christian Scheideler, and Daniel Warner

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 238, 28th International Conference on DNA Computing and Molecular Programming (DNA 28) (2022)

Abstract
The amoebot model is a distributed computing model of programmable matter. It envisions programmable matter as a collection of computational units called amoebots or particles that utilize local interactions to achieve tasks of coordination, movement and conformation. In the geometric amoebot model the particles operate on a hexagonal tessellation of the plane. Within this model, numerous problems such as leader election, shape formation or object coating have been studied. One area that has not received much attention so far, but is highly relevant for a practical implementation of programmable matter, is fault tolerance. The existing literature on that aspect allows particles to crash but assumes that crashed particles do not recover. We proposed a new model [Kostitsyna et al., 2022] in which a crash causes the memory of a particle to be reset and a crashed particle can detect that it has crashed and try to recover using its local information and communication capabilities. We present an algorithm that solves the hexagon shape formation problem in our model if a finite number of crashes occur and a designated leader particle does not fail. At the heart of our solution lies a fault-tolerant implementation of the spanning forest primitive, which, since other algorithms in the amoebot model also make use of it, is also of general interest.
Cite as

Irina Kostitsyna, Christian Scheideler, and Daniel Warner. Fault-Tolerant Shape Formation in the Amoebot Model. In 28th International Conference on DNA Computing and Molecular Programming (DNA 28). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 238, pp. 9:1-9:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2022)

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@InProceedings{kostitsyna_et_al:LIPIcs.DNA.28.9,
  author =	{Kostitsyna, Irina and Scheideler, Christian and Warner, Daniel},
  title =	{{Fault-Tolerant Shape Formation in the Amoebot Model}},
  booktitle =	{28th International Conference on DNA Computing and Molecular Programming (DNA 28)},
  pages =	{9:1--9:22},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-253-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2022},
  volume =	{238},
  editor =	{Ouldridge, Thomas E. and Wickham, Shelley F. J.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.DNA.28.9},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-167949},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.DNA.28.9},
  annote =	{Keywords: programmable matter, amoebot model, fault tolerance, shape formation}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2022.4
Compacting Squares: Input-Sensitive In-Place Reconfiguration of Sliding Squares

Authors: Hugo A. Akitaya, Erik D. Demaine, Matias Korman, Irina Kostitsyna, Irene Parada, Willem Sonke, Bettina Speckmann, Ryuhei Uehara, and Jules Wulms

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 227, 18th Scandinavian Symposium and Workshops on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2022)

Abstract
Edge-connected configurations of square modules, which can reconfigure through so-called sliding moves, are a well-established theoretical model for modular robots in two dimensions. Dumitrescu and Pach [Graphs and Combinatorics, 2006] proved that it is always possible to reconfigure one edge-connected configuration of n squares into any other using at most O(n²) sliding moves, while keeping the configuration connected at all times. For certain pairs of configurations, reconfiguration may require Ω(n²) sliding moves. However, significantly fewer moves may be sufficient. We prove that it is NP-hard to minimize the number of sliding moves for a given pair of edge-connected configurations. On the positive side we present Gather&Compact, an input-sensitive in-place algorithm that requires only O( ̄P n) sliding moves to transform one configuration into the other, where ̄P is the maximum perimeter of the two bounding boxes. The squares move within the bounding boxes only, with the exception of at most one square at a time which may move through the positions adjacent to the bounding boxes. The O( ̄P n) bound never exceeds O(n²), and is optimal (up to constant factors) among all bounds parameterized by just n and ̄P. Our algorithm is built on the basic principle that well-connected components of modular robots can be transformed efficiently. Hence we iteratively increase the connectivity within a configuration, to finally arrive at a single solid xy-monotone component. We implemented Gather&Compact and compared it experimentally to the in-place modification by Moreno and Sacristán [EuroCG 2020] of the Dumitrescu and Pach algorithm (MSDP). Our experiments show that Gather&Compact consistently outperforms MSDP by a significant margin, on all types of square configurations.
Cite as

Hugo A. Akitaya, Erik D. Demaine, Matias Korman, Irina Kostitsyna, Irene Parada, Willem Sonke, Bettina Speckmann, Ryuhei Uehara, and Jules Wulms. Compacting Squares: Input-Sensitive In-Place Reconfiguration of Sliding Squares. In 18th Scandinavian Symposium and Workshops on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2022). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 227, pp. 4:1-4:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2022)

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@InProceedings{a.akitaya_et_al:LIPIcs.SWAT.2022.4,
  author =	{A. Akitaya, Hugo and Demaine, Erik D. and Korman, Matias and Kostitsyna, Irina and Parada, Irene and Sonke, Willem and Speckmann, Bettina and Uehara, Ryuhei and Wulms, Jules},
  title =	{{Compacting Squares: Input-Sensitive In-Place Reconfiguration of Sliding Squares}},
  booktitle =	{18th Scandinavian Symposium and Workshops on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2022)},
  pages =	{4:1--4:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-236-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2022},
  volume =	{227},
  editor =	{Czumaj, Artur and Xin, Qin},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2022.4},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-161644},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2022.4},
  annote =	{Keywords: Sliding cubes, Reconfiguration, Modular robots, NP-hardness}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2022.12
Unlabeled Multi-Robot Motion Planning with Tighter Separation Bounds

Authors: Bahareh Banyassady, Mark de Berg, Karl Bringmann, Kevin Buchin, Henning Fernau, Dan Halperin, Irina Kostitsyna, Yoshio Okamoto, and Stijn Slot

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 224, 38th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2022)

Abstract
We consider the unlabeled motion-planning problem of m unit-disc robots moving in a simple polygonal workspace of n edges. The goal is to find a motion plan that moves the robots to a given set of m target positions. For the unlabeled variant, it does not matter which robot reaches which target position as long as all target positions are occupied in the end. If the workspace has narrow passages such that the robots cannot fit through them, then the free configuration space, representing all possible unobstructed positions of the robots, will consist of multiple connected components. Even if in each component of the free space the number of targets matches the number of start positions, the motion-planning problem does not always have a solution when the robots and their targets are positioned very densely. In this paper, we prove tight bounds on how much separation between start and target positions is necessary to always guarantee a solution. Moreover, we describe an algorithm that always finds a solution in time O(n log n + mn + m²) if the separation bounds are met. Specifically, we prove that the following separation is sufficient: any two start positions are at least distance 4 apart, any two target positions are at least distance 4 apart, and any pair of a start and a target positions is at least distance 3 apart. We further show that when the free space consists of a single connected component, the separation between start and target positions is not necessary.
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Bahareh Banyassady, Mark de Berg, Karl Bringmann, Kevin Buchin, Henning Fernau, Dan Halperin, Irina Kostitsyna, Yoshio Okamoto, and Stijn Slot. Unlabeled Multi-Robot Motion Planning with Tighter Separation Bounds. In 38th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2022). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 224, pp. 12:1-12:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2022)

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@InProceedings{banyassady_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2022.12,
  author =	{Banyassady, Bahareh and de Berg, Mark and Bringmann, Karl and Buchin, Kevin and Fernau, Henning and Halperin, Dan and Kostitsyna, Irina and Okamoto, Yoshio and Slot, Stijn},
  title =	{{Unlabeled Multi-Robot Motion Planning with Tighter Separation Bounds}},
  booktitle =	{38th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2022)},
  pages =	{12:1--12:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-227-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2022},
  volume =	{224},
  editor =	{Goaoc, Xavier and Kerber, Michael},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2022.12},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-160203},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2022.12},
  annote =	{Keywords: motion planning, computational geometry, simple polygon}
}
Document
Brief Announcement
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SAND.2022.23
Brief Announcement: Fault-Tolerant Shape Formation in the Amoebot Model

Authors: Irina Kostitsyna, Christian Scheideler, and Daniel Warner

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 221, 1st Symposium on Algorithmic Foundations of Dynamic Networks (SAND 2022)

Abstract
The amoebot model is a distributed computing model of programmable matter. It envisions programmable matter as a collection of computational units called amoebots or particles that utilize local interactions to achieve tasks of coordination, movement and conformation. In the geometric amoebot model the particles operate on a hexagonal tessellation of the plane. Within this model, numerous problems such as leader election, shape formation or object coating have been studied. One area that has not received much attention so far, but is highly relevant for a practical implementation of programmable matter, is fault tolerance. The existing literature on that aspect allows particles to crash but assumes that crashed particles do not recover. We propose a new model in which a crash causes the memory of a particle to be reset and a crashed particle can detect that it has crashed and try to recover using its local information and communication capabilities. We propose an algorithm that solves the hexagon shape formation problem in our model if a finite number of crashes occur and a designated leader particle does not fail. At the heart of our solution lies a fault-tolerant implementation of the spanning forest primitive, which, since other algorithms in the amoebot model also make use of it, is also of general interest.
Cite as

Irina Kostitsyna, Christian Scheideler, and Daniel Warner. Brief Announcement: Fault-Tolerant Shape Formation in the Amoebot Model. In 1st Symposium on Algorithmic Foundations of Dynamic Networks (SAND 2022). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 221, pp. 23:1-23:3, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2022)

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@InProceedings{kostitsyna_et_al:LIPIcs.SAND.2022.23,
  author =	{Kostitsyna, Irina and Scheideler, Christian and Warner, Daniel},
  title =	{{Brief Announcement: Fault-Tolerant Shape Formation in the Amoebot Model}},
  booktitle =	{1st Symposium on Algorithmic Foundations of Dynamic Networks (SAND 2022)},
  pages =	{23:1--23:3},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-224-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2022},
  volume =	{221},
  editor =	{Aspnes, James and Michail, Othon},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SAND.2022.23},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-159656},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SAND.2022.23},
  annote =	{Keywords: Programmable matter, Geometric amoebot model, Fault tolerance, Shape formation}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2021.25
Dots & Boxes Is PSPACE-Complete

Authors: Kevin Buchin, Mart Hagedoorn, Irina Kostitsyna, and Max van Mulken

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 202, 46th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2021)

Abstract
Exactly 20 years ago at MFCS, Demaine posed the open problem whether the game of Dots & Boxes is PSPACE-complete. Dots & Boxes has been studied extensively, with for instance a chapter in Berlekamp et al. Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays, a whole book on the game The Dots and Boxes Game: Sophisticated Child’s Play by Berlekamp, and numerous articles in the Games of No Chance series. While known to be NP-hard, the question of its complexity remained open. We resolve this question, proving that the game is PSPACE-complete by a reduction from a game played on propositional formulas.
Cite as

Kevin Buchin, Mart Hagedoorn, Irina Kostitsyna, and Max van Mulken. Dots & Boxes Is PSPACE-Complete. In 46th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2021). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 202, pp. 25:1-25:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2021)

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@InProceedings{buchin_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2021.25,
  author =	{Buchin, Kevin and Hagedoorn, Mart and Kostitsyna, Irina and van Mulken, Max},
  title =	{{Dots \& Boxes Is PSPACE-Complete}},
  booktitle =	{46th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2021)},
  pages =	{25:1--25:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-201-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2021},
  volume =	{202},
  editor =	{Bonchi, Filippo and Puglisi, Simon J.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2021.25},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-144657},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2021.25},
  annote =	{Keywords: Dots \& Boxes, PSPACE-complete, combinatorial game}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2021.5
Chasing Puppies: Mobile Beacon Routing on Closed Curves

Authors: Mikkel Abrahamsen, Jeff Erickson, Irina Kostitsyna, Maarten Löffler, Tillmann Miltzow, Jérôme Urhausen, Jordi Vermeulen, and Giovanni Viglietta

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 189, 37th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2021)

Abstract
We solve an open problem posed by Michael Biro at CCCG 2013 that was inspired by his and others’ work on beacon-based routing. Consider a human and a puppy on a simple closed curve in the plane. The human can walk along the curve at bounded speed and change direction as desired. The puppy runs with unbounded speed along the curve as long as the Euclidean straight-line distance to the human is decreasing, so that it is always at a point on the curve where the distance is locally minimal. Assuming that the curve is smooth (with some mild genericity constraints) or a simple polygon, we prove that the human can always catch the puppy in finite time.
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Mikkel Abrahamsen, Jeff Erickson, Irina Kostitsyna, Maarten Löffler, Tillmann Miltzow, Jérôme Urhausen, Jordi Vermeulen, and Giovanni Viglietta. Chasing Puppies: Mobile Beacon Routing on Closed Curves. In 37th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2021). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 189, pp. 5:1-5:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2021)

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@InProceedings{abrahamsen_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2021.5,
  author =	{Abrahamsen, Mikkel and Erickson, Jeff and Kostitsyna, Irina and L\"{o}ffler, Maarten and Miltzow, Tillmann and Urhausen, J\'{e}r\^{o}me and Vermeulen, Jordi and Viglietta, Giovanni},
  title =	{{Chasing Puppies: Mobile Beacon Routing on Closed Curves}},
  booktitle =	{37th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2021)},
  pages =	{5:1--5:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-184-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2021},
  volume =	{189},
  editor =	{Buchin, Kevin and Colin de Verdi\`{e}re, \'{E}ric},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2021.5},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-138046},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2021.5},
  annote =	{Keywords: Beacon routing, navigation, generic smooth curves, puppies}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SEA.2021.4
Minimum Scan Cover and Variants - Theory and Experiments

Authors: Kevin Buchin, Sándor P. Fekete, Alexander Hill, Linda Kleist, Irina Kostitsyna, Dominik Krupke, Roel Lambers, and Martijn Struijs

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 190, 19th International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms (SEA 2021)

Abstract
We consider a spectrum of geometric optimization problems motivated by contexts such as satellite communication and astrophysics. In the problem Minimum Scan Cover with Angular Costs, we are given a graph G that is embedded in Euclidean space. The edges of G need to be scanned, i.e., probed from both of their vertices. In order to scan their edge, two vertices need to face each other; changing the heading of a vertex incurs some cost in terms of energy or rotation time that is proportional to the corresponding rotation angle. Our goal is to compute schedules that minimize the following objective functions: (i) in Minimum Makespan Scan Cover (MSC-MS), this is the time until all edges are scanned; (ii) in Minimum Total Energy Scan Cover (MSC-TE), the sum of all rotation angles; (iii) in Minimum Bottleneck Energy Scan Cover (MSC-BE), the maximum total rotation angle at one vertex. Previous theoretical work on MSC-MS revealed a close connection to graph coloring and the cut cover problem, leading to hardness and approximability results. In this paper, we present polynomial-time algorithms for 1D instances of MSC-TE and MSC-BE, but NP-hardness proofs for bipartite 2D instances. For bipartite graphs in 2D, we also give 2-approximation algorithms for both MSC-TE and MSC-BE. Most importantly, we provide a comprehensive study of practical methods for all three problems. We compare three different mixed-integer programming and two constraint programming approaches, and show how to compute provably optimal solutions for geometric instances with up to 300 edges. Additionally, we compare the performance of different meta-heuristics for even larger instances.
Cite as

Kevin Buchin, Sándor P. Fekete, Alexander Hill, Linda Kleist, Irina Kostitsyna, Dominik Krupke, Roel Lambers, and Martijn Struijs. Minimum Scan Cover and Variants - Theory and Experiments. In 19th International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms (SEA 2021). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 190, pp. 4:1-4:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2021)

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@InProceedings{buchin_et_al:LIPIcs.SEA.2021.4,
  author =	{Buchin, Kevin and Fekete, S\'{a}ndor P. and Hill, Alexander and Kleist, Linda and Kostitsyna, Irina and Krupke, Dominik and Lambers, Roel and Struijs, Martijn},
  title =	{{Minimum Scan Cover and Variants - Theory and Experiments}},
  booktitle =	{19th International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms (SEA 2021)},
  pages =	{4:1--4:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-185-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2021},
  volume =	{190},
  editor =	{Coudert, David and Natale, Emanuele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SEA.2021.4},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-137765},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SEA.2021.4},
  annote =	{Keywords: Graph scanning, angular metric, makespan, energy, bottleneck, complexity, approximation, algorithm engineering, mixed-integer programming, constraint programming}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FUN.2021.15
Multi-Robot Motion Planning of k-Colored Discs Is PSPACE-Hard

Authors: Thomas Brocken, G. Wessel van der Heijden, Irina Kostitsyna, Lloyd E. Lo-Wong, and Remco J. A. Surtel

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 157, 10th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN 2021) (2020)

Abstract
In the problem of multi-robot motion planning, a group of robots, placed in a polygonal domain with obstacles, must be moved from their starting positions to a set of target positions. We consider the specific case of unlabeled disc robots of two different sizes. That is, within one class of robots, where a class is given by the robots' size, any robot can be moved to any of the corresponding target positions. We prove that the decision problem of whether there exists a schedule moving the robots to the target positions is PSPACE-hard.
Cite as

Thomas Brocken, G. Wessel van der Heijden, Irina Kostitsyna, Lloyd E. Lo-Wong, and Remco J. A. Surtel. Multi-Robot Motion Planning of k-Colored Discs Is PSPACE-Hard. In 10th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN 2021). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 157, pp. 15:1-15:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)

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@InProceedings{brocken_et_al:LIPIcs.FUN.2021.15,
  author =	{Brocken, Thomas and van der Heijden, G. Wessel and Kostitsyna, Irina and Lo-Wong, Lloyd E. and Surtel, Remco J. A.},
  title =	{{Multi-Robot Motion Planning of k-Colored Discs Is PSPACE-Hard}},
  booktitle =	{10th International Conference on Fun with Algorithms (FUN 2021)},
  pages =	{15:1--15:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-145-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{157},
  editor =	{Farach-Colton, Martin and Prencipe, Giuseppe and Uehara, Ryuhei},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FUN.2021.15},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-127769},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FUN.2021.15},
  annote =	{Keywords: Disc-robot motion planning, algorithmic complexity, PSPACE-hard}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.DNA.2020.11
Turning Machines

Authors: Irina Kostitsyna, Cai Wood, and Damien Woods

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 174, 26th International Conference on DNA Computing and Molecular Programming (DNA 26) (2020)

Abstract
Molecular robotics is challenging, so it seems best to keep it simple. We consider an abstract molecular robotics model based on simple folding instructions that execute asynchronously. Turning Machines are a simple 1D to 2D folding model, also easily generalisable to 2D to 3D folding. A Turning Machine starts out as a line of connected monomers in the discrete plane, each with an associated turning number. A monomer turns relative to its neighbours, executing a unit-distance translation that drags other monomers along with it, and through collective motion the initial set of monomers eventually folds into a programmed shape. We fully characterise the ability of Turning Machines to execute line rotations, and to do so efficiently: computing an almost-full line rotation of 5π/3 radians is possible, yet a full 2π rotation is impossible. We show that such line-rotations represent a fundamental primitive in the model, by using them to efficiently and asynchronously fold arbitrarily large zig-zag-rastered squares and y-monotone shapes.
Cite as

Irina Kostitsyna, Cai Wood, and Damien Woods. Turning Machines. In 26th International Conference on DNA Computing and Molecular Programming (DNA 26). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 174, pp. 11:1-11:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)

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@InProceedings{kostitsyna_et_al:LIPIcs.DNA.2020.11,
  author =	{Kostitsyna, Irina and Wood, Cai and Woods, Damien},
  title =	{{Turning Machines}},
  booktitle =	{26th International Conference on DNA Computing and Molecular Programming (DNA 26)},
  pages =	{11:1--11:21},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-163-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{174},
  editor =	{Geary, Cody and Patitz, Matthew J.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.DNA.2020.11},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-129649},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.DNA.2020.11},
  annote =	{Keywords: model of computation, molecular robotics, self-assembly, nubot, reconfiguration}
}
Document
Media Exposition
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2020.79
Dots & Polygons (Media Exposition)

Authors: Kevin Buchin, Mart Hagedoorn, Irina Kostitsyna, Max van Mulken, Jolan Rensen, and Leo van Schooten

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 164, 36th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2020)

Abstract
We present a new game, Dots & Polygons, played on a planar point set. We prove that its NP-hard and discuss strategies for the case when the point set is in convex position.
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Kevin Buchin, Mart Hagedoorn, Irina Kostitsyna, Max van Mulken, Jolan Rensen, and Leo van Schooten. Dots & Polygons (Media Exposition). In 36th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2020). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 164, pp. 79:1-79:4, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)

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@InProceedings{buchin_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2020.79,
  author =	{Buchin, Kevin and Hagedoorn, Mart and Kostitsyna, Irina and van Mulken, Max and Rensen, Jolan and van Schooten, Leo},
  title =	{{Dots \& Polygons}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2020)},
  pages =	{79:1--79:4},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-143-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{164},
  editor =	{Cabello, Sergio and Chen, Danny Z.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2020.79},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-122371},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2020.79},
  annote =	{Keywords: Dots \& Boxes, NP-hard, game, cycle packing}
}
Document
Media Exposition
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2020.80
Designing Art Galleries (Media Exposition)

Authors: Toon van Benthem, Kevin Buchin, Irina Kostitsyna, and Stijn Slot

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 164, 36th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2020)

Abstract
We present a method for generating interesting levels based on several NP-hardness reductions for a puzzle game based on the Art Gallery problem.
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Toon van Benthem, Kevin Buchin, Irina Kostitsyna, and Stijn Slot. Designing Art Galleries (Media Exposition). In 36th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2020). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 164, pp. 80:1-80:5, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)

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@InProceedings{vanbenthem_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2020.80,
  author =	{van Benthem, Toon and Buchin, Kevin and Kostitsyna, Irina and Slot, Stijn},
  title =	{{Designing Art Galleries}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2020)},
  pages =	{80:1--80:5},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-143-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{164},
  editor =	{Cabello, Sergio and Chen, Danny Z.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2020.80},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-122382},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2020.80},
  annote =	{Keywords: Art Gallery problem, NP-hard, puzzle, level generation}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2019.2
Fragile Complexity of Comparison-Based Algorithms

Authors: Peyman Afshani, Rolf Fagerberg, David Hammer, Riko Jacob, Irina Kostitsyna, Ulrich Meyer, Manuel Penschuck, and Nodari Sitchinava

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 144, 27th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2019)

Abstract
We initiate a study of algorithms with a focus on the computational complexity of individual elements, and introduce the fragile complexity of comparison-based algorithms as the maximal number of comparisons any individual element takes part in. We give a number of upper and lower bounds on the fragile complexity for fundamental problems, including Minimum, Selection, Sorting and Heap Construction. The results include both deterministic and randomized upper and lower bounds, and demonstrate a separation between the two settings for a number of problems. The depth of a comparator network is a straight-forward upper bound on the worst case fragile complexity of the corresponding fragile algorithm. We prove that fragile complexity is a different and strictly easier property than the depth of comparator networks, in the sense that for some problems a fragile complexity equal to the best network depth can be achieved with less total work and that with randomization, even a lower fragile complexity is possible.
Cite as

Peyman Afshani, Rolf Fagerberg, David Hammer, Riko Jacob, Irina Kostitsyna, Ulrich Meyer, Manuel Penschuck, and Nodari Sitchinava. Fragile Complexity of Comparison-Based Algorithms. In 27th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2019). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 144, pp. 2:1-2:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2019)

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@InProceedings{afshani_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2019.2,
  author =	{Afshani, Peyman and Fagerberg, Rolf and Hammer, David and Jacob, Riko and Kostitsyna, Irina and Meyer, Ulrich and Penschuck, Manuel and Sitchinava, Nodari},
  title =	{{Fragile Complexity of Comparison-Based Algorithms}},
  booktitle =	{27th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2019)},
  pages =	{2:1--2:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-124-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2019},
  volume =	{144},
  editor =	{Bender, Michael A. and Svensson, Ola and Herman, Grzegorz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2019.2},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-111235},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2019.2},
  annote =	{Keywords: Algorithms, comparison based algorithms, lower bounds}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2019.67
Global Curve Simplification

Authors: Mees van de Kerkhof, Irina Kostitsyna, Maarten Löffler, Majid Mirzanezhad, and Carola Wenk

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 144, 27th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2019)

Abstract
Due to its many applications, curve simplification is a long-studied problem in computational geometry and adjacent disciplines, such as graphics, geographical information science, etc. Given a polygonal curve P with n vertices, the goal is to find another polygonal curve P' with a smaller number of vertices such that P' is sufficiently similar to P. Quality guarantees of a simplification are usually given in a local sense, bounding the distance between a shortcut and its corresponding section of the curve. In this work we aim to provide a systematic overview of curve simplification problems under global distance measures that bound the distance between P and P'. We consider six different curve distance measures: three variants of the Hausdorff distance and three variants of the Fréchet distance. And we study different restrictions on the choice of vertices for P'. We provide polynomial-time algorithms for some variants of the global curve simplification problem, and show NP-hardness for other variants. Through this systematic study we observe, for the first time, some surprising patterns, and suggest directions for future research in this important area.
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Mees van de Kerkhof, Irina Kostitsyna, Maarten Löffler, Majid Mirzanezhad, and Carola Wenk. Global Curve Simplification. In 27th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2019). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 144, pp. 67:1-67:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2019)

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@InProceedings{vandekerkhof_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2019.67,
  author =	{van de Kerkhof, Mees and Kostitsyna, Irina and L\"{o}ffler, Maarten and Mirzanezhad, Majid and Wenk, Carola},
  title =	{{Global Curve Simplification}},
  booktitle =	{27th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2019)},
  pages =	{67:1--67:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-124-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2019},
  volume =	{144},
  editor =	{Bender, Michael A. and Svensson, Ola and Herman, Grzegorz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2019.67},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-111887},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2019.67},
  annote =	{Keywords: Curve simplification, Fr\'{e}chet distance, Hausdorff distance}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2019.42
Preprocessing Ambiguous Imprecise Points

Authors: Ivor van der Hoog, Irina Kostitsyna, Maarten Löffler, and Bettina Speckmann

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 129, 35th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2019)

Abstract
Let R = {R_1, R_2, ..., R_n} be a set of regions and let X = {x_1, x_2, ..., x_n} be an (unknown) point set with x_i in R_i. Region R_i represents the uncertainty region of x_i. We consider the following question: how fast can we establish order if we are allowed to preprocess the regions in R? The preprocessing model of uncertainty uses two consecutive phases: a preprocessing phase which has access only to R followed by a reconstruction phase during which a desired structure on X is computed. Recent results in this model parametrize the reconstruction time by the ply of R, which is the maximum overlap between the regions in R. We introduce the ambiguity A(R) as a more fine-grained measure of the degree of overlap in R. We show how to preprocess a set of d-dimensional disks in O(n log n) time such that we can sort X (if d=1) and reconstruct a quadtree on X (if d >= 1 but constant) in O(A(R)) time. If A(R) is sub-linear, then reporting the result dominates the running time of the reconstruction phase. However, we can still return a suitable data structure representing the result in O(A(R)) time. In one dimension, {R} is a set of intervals and the ambiguity is linked to interval entropy, which in turn relates to the well-studied problem of sorting under partial information. The number of comparisons necessary to find the linear order underlying a poset P is lower-bounded by the graph entropy of P. We show that if P is an interval order, then the ambiguity provides a constant-factor approximation of the graph entropy. This gives a lower bound of Omega(A(R)) in all dimensions for the reconstruction phase (sorting or any proximity structure), independent of any preprocessing; hence our result is tight. Finally, our results imply that one can approximate the entropy of interval graphs in O(n log n) time, improving the O(n^{2.5}) bound by Cardinal et al.
Cite as

Ivor van der Hoog, Irina Kostitsyna, Maarten Löffler, and Bettina Speckmann. Preprocessing Ambiguous Imprecise Points. In 35th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2019). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 129, pp. 42:1-42:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2019)

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@InProceedings{vanderhoog_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2019.42,
  author =	{van der Hoog, Ivor and Kostitsyna, Irina and L\"{o}ffler, Maarten and Speckmann, Bettina},
  title =	{{Preprocessing Ambiguous Imprecise Points}},
  booktitle =	{35th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2019)},
  pages =	{42:1--42:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-104-7},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2019},
  volume =	{129},
  editor =	{Barequet, Gill and Wang, Yusu},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2019.42},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-104460},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2019.42},
  annote =	{Keywords: preprocessing, imprecise points, entropy, sorting, proximity structures}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2018.52
Convex Partial Transversals of Planar Regions

Authors: Vahideh Keikha, Mees van de Kerkhof, Marc van Kreveld, Irina Kostitsyna, Maarten Löffler, Frank Staals, Jérôme Urhausen, Jordi L. Vermeulen, and Lionov Wiratma

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 123, 29th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2018)

Abstract
We consider the problem of testing, for a given set of planar regions R and an integer k, whether there exists a convex shape whose boundary intersects at least k regions of R. We provide polynomial-time algorithms for the case where the regions are disjoint axis-aligned rectangles or disjoint line segments with a constant number of orientations. On the other hand, we show that the problem is NP-hard when the regions are intersecting axis-aligned rectangles or 3-oriented line segments. For several natural intermediate classes of shapes (arbitrary disjoint segments, intersecting 2-oriented segments) the problem remains open.
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Vahideh Keikha, Mees van de Kerkhof, Marc van Kreveld, Irina Kostitsyna, Maarten Löffler, Frank Staals, Jérôme Urhausen, Jordi L. Vermeulen, and Lionov Wiratma. Convex Partial Transversals of Planar Regions. In 29th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2018). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 123, pp. 52:1-52:12, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2018)

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@InProceedings{keikha_et_al:LIPIcs.ISAAC.2018.52,
  author =	{Keikha, Vahideh and van de Kerkhof, Mees and van Kreveld, Marc and Kostitsyna, Irina and L\"{o}ffler, Maarten and Staals, Frank and Urhausen, J\'{e}r\^{o}me and Vermeulen, Jordi L. and Wiratma, Lionov},
  title =	{{Convex Partial Transversals of Planar Regions}},
  booktitle =	{29th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2018)},
  pages =	{52:1--52:12},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-094-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2018},
  volume =	{123},
  editor =	{Hsu, Wen-Lian and Lee, Der-Tsai and Liao, Chung-Shou},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2018.52},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-100003},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2018.52},
  annote =	{Keywords: computational geometry, algorithms, NP-hardness, convex transversals}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2018.52
Shape Recognition by a Finite Automaton Robot

Authors: Robert Gmyr, Kristian Hinnenthal, Irina Kostitsyna, Fabian Kuhn, Dorian Rudolph, and Christian Scheideler

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 117, 43rd International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2018)

Abstract
Motivated by the problem of shape recognition by nanoscale computing agents, we investigate the problem of detecting the geometric shape of a structure composed of hexagonal tiles by a finite-state automaton robot. In particular, in this paper we consider the question of recognizing whether the tiles are assembled into a parallelogram whose longer side has length l = f(h), for a given function f(*), where h is the length of the shorter side. To determine the computational power of the finite-state automaton robot, we identify functions that can or cannot be decided when the robot is given a certain number of pebbles. We show that the robot can decide whether l = ah+b for constant integers a and b without any pebbles, but cannot detect whether l = f(h) for any function f(x) = omega(x). For a robot with a single pebble, we present an algorithm to decide whether l = p(h) for a given polynomial p(*) of constant degree. We contrast this result by showing that, for any constant k, any function f(x) = omega(x^(6k + 2)) cannot be decided by a robot with k states and a single pebble. We further present exponential functions that can be decided using two pebbles. Finally, we present a family of functions f_n(*) such that the robot needs more than n pebbles to decide whether l = f_n(h).
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Robert Gmyr, Kristian Hinnenthal, Irina Kostitsyna, Fabian Kuhn, Dorian Rudolph, and Christian Scheideler. Shape Recognition by a Finite Automaton Robot. In 43rd International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2018). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 117, pp. 52:1-52:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2018)

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@InProceedings{gmyr_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2018.52,
  author =	{Gmyr, Robert and Hinnenthal, Kristian and Kostitsyna, Irina and Kuhn, Fabian and Rudolph, Dorian and Scheideler, Christian},
  title =	{{Shape Recognition by a Finite Automaton Robot}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2018)},
  pages =	{52:1--52:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-086-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2018},
  volume =	{117},
  editor =	{Potapov, Igor and Spirakis, Paul and Worrell, James},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2018.52},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-96347},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2018.52},
  annote =	{Keywords: finite automata, shape recognition, computational geometry}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2018.55
An Optimal Algorithm to Compute the Inverse Beacon Attraction Region

Authors: Irina Kostitsyna, Bahram Kouhestani, Stefan Langerman, and David Rappaport

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 99, 34th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2018)

Abstract
The beacon model is a recent paradigm for guiding the trajectory of messages or small robotic agents in complex environments. A beacon is a fixed point with an attraction pull that can move points within a given polygon. Points move greedily towards a beacon: if unobstructed, they move along a straight line to the beacon, and otherwise they slide on the edges of the polygon. The Euclidean distance from a moving point to a beacon is monotonically decreasing. A given beacon attracts a point if the point eventually reaches the beacon. The problem of attracting all points within a polygon with a set of beacons can be viewed as a variation of the art gallery problem. Unlike most variations, the beacon attraction has the intriguing property of being asymmetric, leading to separate definitions of attraction region and inverse attraction region. The attraction region of a beacon is the set of points that it attracts. It is connected and can be computed in linear time for simple polygons. By contrast, it is known that the inverse attraction region of a point - the set of beacon positions that attract it - could have Omega(n) disjoint connected components. In this paper, we prove that, in spite of this, the total complexity of the inverse attraction region of a point in a simple polygon is linear, and present a O(n log n) time algorithm to construct it. This improves upon the best previous algorithm which required O(n^3) time and O(n^2) space. Furthermore we prove a matching Omega(n log n) lower bound for this task in the algebraic computation tree model of computation, even if the polygon is monotone.
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Irina Kostitsyna, Bahram Kouhestani, Stefan Langerman, and David Rappaport. An Optimal Algorithm to Compute the Inverse Beacon Attraction Region. In 34th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2018). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 99, pp. 55:1-55:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2018)

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@InProceedings{kostitsyna_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2018.55,
  author =	{Kostitsyna, Irina and Kouhestani, Bahram and Langerman, Stefan and Rappaport, David},
  title =	{{An Optimal Algorithm to Compute the Inverse Beacon Attraction Region}},
  booktitle =	{34th International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2018)},
  pages =	{55:1--55:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-066-8},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2018},
  volume =	{99},
  editor =	{Speckmann, Bettina and T\'{o}th, Csaba D.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2018.55},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-87686},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2018.55},
  annote =	{Keywords: beacon attraction, inverse attraction region, algorithm, optimal}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2017.54
Non-Crossing Geometric Steiner Arborescences

Authors: Irina Kostitsyna, Bettina Speckmann, and Kevin Verbeek

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 92, 28th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2017)

Abstract
Motivated by the question of simultaneous embedding of several flow maps, we consider the problem of drawing multiple geometric Steiner arborescences with no crossings in the rectilinear and in the angle-restricted setting. When terminal-to-root paths are allowed to turn freely, we show that two rectilinear Steiner arborescences have a non-crossing drawing if neither tree necessarily completely disconnects the other tree and if the roots of both trees are "free". If the roots are not free, then we can reduce the decision problem to 2SAT. If terminal-to-root paths are allowed to turn only at Steiner points, then it is NP-hard to decide whether multiple rectilinear Steiner arborescences have a non-crossing drawing. The setting of angle-restricted Steiner arborescences is more subtle than the rectilinear case. Our NP-hardness result extends, but testing whether there exists a non-crossing drawing if the roots of both trees are free requires additional conditions to be fulfilled.
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Irina Kostitsyna, Bettina Speckmann, and Kevin Verbeek. Non-Crossing Geometric Steiner Arborescences. In 28th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2017). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 92, pp. 54:1-54:13, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2017)

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@InProceedings{kostitsyna_et_al:LIPIcs.ISAAC.2017.54,
  author =	{Kostitsyna, Irina and Speckmann, Bettina and Verbeek, Kevin},
  title =	{{Non-Crossing Geometric Steiner Arborescences}},
  booktitle =	{28th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2017)},
  pages =	{54:1--54:13},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-054-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2017},
  volume =	{92},
  editor =	{Okamoto, Yoshio and Tokuyama, Takeshi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2017.54},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-82342},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2017.54},
  annote =	{Keywords: Steiner arborescences, non-crossing drawing, rectilinear, angle-restricted}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2017.21
Self-Approaching Paths in Simple Polygons

Authors: Prosenjit Bose, Irina Kostitsyna, and Stefan Langerman

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 77, 33rd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2017)

Abstract
We study self-approaching paths that are contained in a simple polygon. A self-approaching path is a directed curve connecting two points such that the Euclidean distance between a point moving along the path and any future position does not increase, that is, for all points a, b, and c that appear in that order along the curve, |ac| >= |bc|. We analyze the properties, and present a characterization of shortest self-approaching paths. In particular, we show that a shortest self-approaching path connecting two points inside a polygon can be forced to follow a general class of non-algebraic curves. While this makes it difficult to design an exact algorithm, we show how to find a self-approaching path inside a polygon connecting two points under a model of computation which assumes that we can calculate involute curves of high order. Lastly, we provide an algorithm to test if a given simple polygon is self-approaching, that is, if there exists a self-approaching path for any two points inside the polygon.
Cite as

Prosenjit Bose, Irina Kostitsyna, and Stefan Langerman. Self-Approaching Paths in Simple Polygons. In 33rd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2017). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 77, pp. 21:1-21:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2017)

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@InProceedings{bose_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2017.21,
  author =	{Bose, Prosenjit and Kostitsyna, Irina and Langerman, Stefan},
  title =	{{Self-Approaching Paths in Simple Polygons}},
  booktitle =	{33rd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2017)},
  pages =	{21:1--21:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-038-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2017},
  volume =	{77},
  editor =	{Aronov, Boris and Katz, Matthew J.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2017.21},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-72166},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2017.21},
  annote =	{Keywords: self-approaching path, simple polygon, shortest path, involute curve}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2016.27
Homotopy Measures for Representative Trajectories

Authors: Erin Chambers, Irina Kostitsyna, Maarten Löffler, and Frank Staals

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 57, 24th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2016)

Abstract
An important task in trajectory analysis is defining a meaningful representative for a cluster of similar trajectories. Formally defining and computing such a representative r is a challenging problem. We propose and discuss two new definitions, both of which use only the geometry of the input trajectories. The definitions are based on the homotopy area as a measure of similarity between two curves, which is a minimum area swept by all possible deformations of one curve into the other. In the first definition we wish to minimize the maximum homotopy area between r and any input trajectory, whereas in the second definition we wish to minimize the sum of the homotopy areas between r and the input trajectories. For both definitions computing an optimal representative is NP-hard. However, for the case of minimizing the sum of the homotopy areas, an optimal representative can be found efficiently in a natural class of restricted inputs, namely, when the arrangement of trajectories forms a directed acyclic graph.
Cite as

Erin Chambers, Irina Kostitsyna, Maarten Löffler, and Frank Staals. Homotopy Measures for Representative Trajectories. In 24th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2016). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 57, pp. 27:1-27:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2016)

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@InProceedings{chambers_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2016.27,
  author =	{Chambers, Erin and Kostitsyna, Irina and L\"{o}ffler, Maarten and Staals, Frank},
  title =	{{Homotopy Measures for Representative Trajectories}},
  booktitle =	{24th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2016)},
  pages =	{27:1--27:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-015-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2016},
  volume =	{57},
  editor =	{Sankowski, Piotr and Zaroliagis, Christos},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2016.27},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-63783},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2016.27},
  annote =	{Keywords: trajectory analysis, representative trajectory, homotopy area}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2016.49
On the Complexity of Minimum-Link Path Problems

Authors: Irina Kostitsyna, Maarten Löffler, Valentin Polishchuk, and Frank Staals

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 51, 32nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2016)

Abstract
We revisit the minimum-link path problem: Given a polyhedral domain and two points in it, connect the points by a polygonal path with minimum number of edges. We consider settings where the min-link path's vertices or edges can be restricted to lie on the boundary of the domain, or can be in its interior. Our results include bit complexity bounds, a novel general hardness construction, and a polynomial-time approximation scheme. We fully characterize the situation in 2D, and provide first results in dimensions 3 and higher for several versions of the problem. Concretely, our results resolve several open problems. We prove that computing the minimum-link diffuse reflection path, motivated by ray tracing in computer graphics, is NP-hard, even for two-dimensional polygonal domains with holes. This has remained an open problem [Ghosh et al. 2012] despite a large body of work on the topic. We also resolve the open problem from [Mitchell et al. 1992] mentioned in the handbook [Goodman and O'Rourke, 2004] (see Chapter 27.5, Open problem 3) and The Open Problems Project [Demaine et al. TOPP] (see Problem 22): "What is the complexity of the minimum-link path problem in 3-space?" Our results imply that the problem is NP-hard even on terrains (and hence, due to discreteness of the answer, there is no FPTAS unless P=NP), but admits a PTAS.
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Irina Kostitsyna, Maarten Löffler, Valentin Polishchuk, and Frank Staals. On the Complexity of Minimum-Link Path Problems. In 32nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2016). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 51, pp. 49:1-49:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2016)

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@InProceedings{kostitsyna_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2016.49,
  author =	{Kostitsyna, Irina and L\"{o}ffler, Maarten and Polishchuk, Valentin and Staals, Frank},
  title =	{{On the Complexity of Minimum-Link Path Problems}},
  booktitle =	{32nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2016)},
  pages =	{49:1--49:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-009-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2016},
  volume =	{51},
  editor =	{Fekete, S\'{a}ndor and Lubiw, Anna},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2016.49},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-59412},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2016.49},
  annote =	{Keywords: minimum-linkpath, diffuse reflection, terrain, bit complexity, NP-hardness}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SOCG.2015.674
Trajectory Grouping Structure under Geodesic Distance

Authors: Irina Kostitsyna, Marc van Kreveld, Maarten Löffler, Bettina Speckmann, and Frank Staals

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 34, 31st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2015)

Abstract
In recent years trajectory data has become one of the main types of geographic data, and hence algorithmic tools to handle large quantities of trajectories are essential. A single trajectory is typically represented as a sequence of time-stamped points in the plane. In a collection of trajectories one wants to detect maximal groups of moving entities and their behaviour (merges and splits) over time. This information can be summarized in the trajectory grouping structure. Significantly extending the work of Buchin et al. [WADS 2013] into a realistic setting, we show that the trajectory grouping structure can be computed efficiently also if obstacles are present and the distance between the entities is measured by geodesic distance. We bound the number of critical events: times at which the distance between two subsets of moving entities is exactly epsilon, where epsilon is the threshold distance that determines whether two entities are close enough to be in one group. In case the n entities move in a simple polygon along trajectories with tau vertices each we give an O(tau n^2) upper bound, which is tight in the worst case. In case of well-spaced obstacles we give an O(tau(n^2 + m lambda_4(n))) upper bound, where m is the total complexity of the obstacles, and lambda_s(n) denotes the maximum length of a Davenport-Schinzel sequence of n symbols of order s. In case of general obstacles we give an O(tau min(n^2 + m^3 lambda_4(n), n^2m^2)) upper bound. Furthermore, for all cases we provide efficient algorithms to compute the critical events, which in turn leads to efficient algorithms to compute the trajectory grouping structure.
Cite as

Irina Kostitsyna, Marc van Kreveld, Maarten Löffler, Bettina Speckmann, and Frank Staals. Trajectory Grouping Structure under Geodesic Distance. In 31st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2015). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 34, pp. 674-688, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2015)

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@InProceedings{kostitsyna_et_al:LIPIcs.SOCG.2015.674,
  author =	{Kostitsyna, Irina and van Kreveld, Marc and L\"{o}ffler, Maarten and Speckmann, Bettina and Staals, Frank},
  title =	{{Trajectory Grouping Structure under Geodesic Distance}},
  booktitle =	{31st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2015)},
  pages =	{674--688},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-939897-83-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2015},
  volume =	{34},
  editor =	{Arge, Lars and Pach, J\'{a}nos},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SOCG.2015.674},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-51212},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SOCG.2015.674},
  annote =	{Keywords: moving entities, trajectories, grouping, computational geometry}
}
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