  We present the design, characterization, and experimental results for a new
modular robotic system for programmable self-assembly. The proposed system uses
the Hybrid Cube Model (HCM), which integrates classical features from both
deterministic and stochastic self-organization models. Thus, for instance, the
modules are passive as far as their locomotion is concerned (stochastic), and
yet they possess an active undocking routine (deterministic). The robots are
constructed entirely from readily accessible components and unlike many
existing robots, their excitation is not fluid mediated. Instead, the actuation
setup is a solid state, independently programmable and highly portable
platform. The system is capable of demonstrating fully autonomous and
distributed stochastic self-assembly in two dimensions. It is shown to emulate
the performance of several existing modular systems and promises to be a
substantial effort towards developing a universal testbed for programmable
self-assembly.
