Interplay of physics, control policy, and compositional structure in machine design

Determine a principled modeling and design framework that accounts for the interaction among physical dynamics, control policies (including operation strategies and feedback control), and the compositional structure of machines assembled from standardized parts, so that automated compositional machine design can incorporate this coupling in both synthesis and evaluation.

Background

The paper formalizes compositional machine design as assembling standardized mechanical parts into functional machines evaluated by physics-based simulation. While static geometry can be specified, actual performance depends on long-horizon behaviors and how machines are operated or controlled.

The authors emphasize that many machines require appropriate control strategies (e.g., fly-by-wire in aircraft) and can behave differently under varied operation or environmental conditions. This introduces a critical coupling among physical dynamics, control policies, and structural composition that current approaches do not fully capture.