Giovanni Viglietta

About

Giovanni Viglietta is a prominent researcher in distributed computing and autonomous mobile robotics, whose work has fundamentally advanced our understanding of how simple computational agents can coordinate without centralized control. His research centers on the theoretical foundations of robot swarms — particularly oblivious and memory-limited robots operating in the Euclidean plane — addressing core challenges such as mutual visibility, rendezvous, and geometric shape formation. Among his most influential contributions is his exploration of the **mutual visibility problem**, investigating how luminous robots can achieve unobstructed sightlines without collisions (95 citations), and his pioneering work on "robots with lights," a model that overcomes obstructed visibility through persistent color signals (38 citations). His studies on rendezvous — coordinating two robots using minimal memory — demonstrated that surprisingly complex coordination is achievable under severe computational constraints, with multiple papers accumulating over 40 citations each. His 2019 work on programmable particles and shape formation (53 citations) extended these ideas toward DNA computing and physical self-assembly paradigms. With over 440 cumulative citations across his top papers, Viglietta's theoretical frameworks have become foundational references for researchers designing fault-tolerant, decentralized robotic systems, making his work essential reading for anyone studying distributed algorithms and swarm intelligence.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Mutual visibility by luminous robots without collisions

   95 citations · 2016
2. 2
   Shape formation by programmable particles

   53 citations · 2019
3. 3
   Rendezvous with constant memory

   51 citations · 2016
4. 4
   Rendezvous of Two Robots with Visible Bits

   43 citations · 2013
5. 5
   The Mutual Visibility Problem for Oblivious Robots

   41 citations · 2014
6. 6
   Getting close without touching: near-gathering for autonomous mobile robots

   40 citations · 2015
7. 7
   Robots with Lights: Overcoming Obstructed Visibility Without Colliding

   38 citations · 2014
8. 8
   Distributed Computing by Mobile Robots: Solving the Uniform Circle Formation Problem

   29 citations · 2014
9. 9
   Rendezvous of Two Robots with Constant Memory

   29 citations · 2013
10. 10
    Robots with Lights: Overcoming Obstructed Visibility Without Colliding

    25 citations · 2014

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links