Hi Tom,
Here is a link to Bubble Chart, a dynamic circle technique example:
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/09/06/us/politics/convention-word-counts.html#Obama

The link is not a political statement, just an example of circle repulsion, like for electrically charged circles. (Underlying Javascript code can be viewed and copied in the brower.

The Bubble Chart link is from here:
https://github.com/d3/d3-force

So if the moveable circles are all the same size, and the boundaries and any internal boundaries are also charged, but non-moveable, the layout would settle down to some sort of hex grid, inside the boundaries.
It would also be nice to be able to add or remove a circle.

Haven't studied the code...

Well, it is 2d planar, not on a 3d surface.

- Brian