Xavier Urbain

About

Xavier Urbain is a leading figure in the formal verification of distributed mobile robotic systems. His research centers on developing certified impossibility results and provably correct algorithms for oblivious mobile robots operating in the plane. Urbain’s major contributions lie in bridging the gap between theoretical distributed computing and formal methods, using proof assistants like Coq to mechanically verify robot protocols. His most influential work, "Impossibility of gathering, a certification" (46 citations), provides a machine-checked proof that gathering is impossible under certain adversarial conditions. This is complemented by his certified algorithms for universal gathering in ℝ² (26 citations) and synchronous gathering without multiplicity detection (21 citations), which offer rigorous guarantees for robot coordination. His 2013 paper on certified impossibility results for Byzantine-tolerant robots (44 citations) extends this approach to fault-tolerant settings. Urbain’s work has fundamentally advanced the use of formal methods in mobile robotics, establishing a new standard for correctness in distributed algorithms. His invited paper on formal methods for mobile robots (2015) surveys the field’s open problems, cementing his role as a pioneer in certified robotics.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Impossibility of gathering, a certification

   46 citations · 2014
2. 2
   Certified Impossibility Results for Byzantine-Tolerant Mobile Robots

   44 citations · 2013
3. 3
   Certified Universal Gathering in $$\mathbb {R} ^2$$ for Oblivious Mobile Robots

   26 citations · 2016
4. 4
   Synchronous Gathering without Multiplicity Detection: a Certified Algorithm

   21 citations · 2018
5. 5
   Continuous vs. Discrete Asynchronous Moves: A Certified Approach for Mobile Robots

   11 citations · 2019
6. 6
   Synchronous Gathering Without Multiplicity Detection: A Certified Algorithm

   11 citations · 2016
7. 7
   Formal Methods for Mobile Robots

   7 citations · 2019
8. 8
   A Certified Universal Gathering Algorithm for Oblivious Mobile Robots

   6 citations · 2015
9. 9
   Brief Announcement Continuous vs. Discrete Asynchronous Moves: A Certified Approach for Mobile Robots

   5 citations · 2018
10. 10
    [Invited Paper] Formal Methods for Mobile Robots: Current Results and Open Problems

    5 citations · 2015

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links