Designing for Distributed Heterogeneous Modularity: On Software Architecture and Deployment of MoonBots
Elian Neppel, Shamistan Karimov, Ashutosh Mishra, Gustavo Hernan Diaz Huenupan, Hazal Gozbasi, Kentaro Uno, Shreya Santra, Kazuya Yoshida

TL;DR
This paper introduces a novel software architecture for modular space robotics, enabling dynamic reconfiguration, decentralized control, and collaboration across heterogeneous components and environments, validated through extensive field deployment.
Contribution
It extends modular robotics to software, communication, and orchestration, providing a scalable, robust, and open-source framework for complex multi-module robotic systems.
Findings
Validated by months of field deployment with self-assembling robots
Achieved dynamic reconfiguration and decentralized control
Reduced integration and maintenance overhead
Abstract
This paper presents the software architecture and deployment strategy behind the MoonBot platform: a modular space robotic system composed of heterogeneous components distributed across multiple computers, networks and ultimately celestial bodies. We introduce a principled approach to distributed, heterogeneous modularity, extending modular robotics beyond physical reconfiguration to software, communication and orchestration. We detail the architecture of our system that integrates component-based design, a data-oriented communication model using ROS2 and Zenoh, and a deployment orchestrator capable of managing complex multi-module assemblies. These abstractions enable dynamic reconfiguration, decentralized control, and seamless collaboration between numerous operators and modules. At the heart of this system lies our open-source Motion Stack software, validated by months of field…
Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsModular Robots and Swarm Intelligence · Space Satellite Systems and Control · Spacecraft Design and Technology
