GPU-Accelerated Simulation of Densely Connected Tensegrity Networks for Statistical Analysis of Morphological Convergence

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Authors: Yanqiu Zheng, Nobuyuki Masuda, Zebing Mao, Cong Yan, Chengyan Zhao, Longchuan Li
Cited by: 1
References: 21

Abstract

Densely connected tensegrity networks provide a useful testbed for morphology-driven dynamics, but their quadratic cable interactions make large-scale, long-horizon simulation prohibitively expensive for CPU-based implementations, limiting quantitative studies of morphological properties. This study presents a size-scalable dynamic model and a GPU-accelerated simulator for two-dimensional multi-rod tensegrity systems under dense connectivity, while preserving the same tension-only cable mechanics and fixed-step time integration scheme as a CPU baseline. Leveraging the resulting throughput, we conduct Monte Carlo sweeps over system size and randomized initial conditions, and quantify morphological convergence to a conservative feasibility set using simple, interpretable scalar metrics. Across the tested range, larger networks exhibit reduced variability in morphology statistics, higher convergence rates, and typically shorter convergence times. These results provide quantitative evidence that strong internal coupling supports statistically robust morphological convergence, and show that GPU acceleration enables reproducible, large-scale evaluation of morphology-driven dynamics in densely connected tensegrity networks.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Structural Analysis and Optimization Computational Geometry and Mesh Generation 3D Shape Modeling and Analysis

Publication details

Journal / source
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Volume
11
Issue
7
Pages
8856–8863
Publication date
8 June 2026