Distributed Cooperative Control

The paradigm of ‘multi-agent’ cooperative control is the challenge frontier for new control system application domains, and as a research area it has experienced a considerable increase in activity in recent years. This volume, the result of a UCLA collaborative project with Caltech, Cornell and MIT, presents cutting edge results in terms of the “dimensions” of cooperative control from leading researchers worldwide. This dimensional decomposition allows the reader to assess the multi-faceted landscape of cooperative control. Cooperative Control of Distributed Multi-Agent Systems is organized into four main themes, or dimensions, of cooperative control: distributed control and computation, adversarial interactions, uncertain evolution and complexity management. The military application of autonomous vehicles systems or multiple unmanned vehicles is primarily targeted; however much of the material is relevant to a broader range of multi-agent systems including cooperative robotics, distributed computing, sensor networks and data network congestion control. Cooperative Control of Distributed Multi-Agent Systems offers the reader an organized presentation of a variety of recent research advances, supporting software and experimental data on the resolution of the cooperative control problem. It will appeal to senior academics, researchers and graduate students as well as engineers working in the areas of cooperative systems, control and optimization.

A detailed and systematic introduction to the distributed cooperative control of multi-agent systems from a theoretical, network perspective Features detailed analysis and discussions on the distributed cooperative control and dynamics of multi-agent systems Covers comprehensively first order, second order and higher order systems, swarming and flocking behaviors Provides a broad theoretical framework for understanding the fundamentals of distributed cooperative control

Assuming only neighbor-neighbor interaction among vehicles, this monograph develops distributed consensus strategies that ensure that the information states of all vehicles in a network converge to a common value. Readers learn to deal with groups of autonomous vehicles in aerial, terrestrial, and submarine environments. Plus, they get the tools needed to overcome impaired communication by using constantly updated neighbor-neighbor interchange.

This book investigates distributed cooperative control and communication of MASs including linear systems, nonlinear systems and multiple rigid body systems. The model-based and data-driven control method are employed to design the (optimal) cooperative control protocol. The approaches of this book consist of model-based and data-driven control such as predictive control, event-triggered control, optimal control, adaptive dynamic programming, etc. From this book, readers can learn about distributed cooperative control methods, data-driven control, finite-time stability analysis, cooperative attitude control of multiple rigid bodies. Some fundamental knowledge prepared to read this book is finite-time stability theory, event-triggered sampling mechanism, adaptive dynamic programming and optimal control.

Distributed controller design is generally a challenging task, especially for multi-agent systems with complex dynamics, due to the interconnected effect of the agent dynamics, the interaction graph among agents, and the cooperative control laws. Cooperative Control of Multi-Agent Systems: A Consensus Region Approach offers a systematic framework for designing distributed controllers for multi-agent systems with general linear agent dynamics, linear agent dynamics with uncertainties, and Lipschitz nonlinear agent dynamics. Beginning with an introduction to cooperative control and graph theory, this monograph: Explores the consensus control problem for continuous-time and discrete-time linear multi-agent systems Studies the H∞ and H2 consensus problems for linear multi-agent systems subject to external disturbances Designs distributed adaptive consensus protocols for continuous-time linear multi-agent systems Considers the distributed tracking control problem for linear multi-agent systems with a leader of nonzero control input Examines the distributed containment control problem for the case with multiple leaders Covers the robust cooperative control problem for multi-agent systems with linear nominal agent dynamics subject to heterogeneous matching uncertainties Discusses the global consensus problem for Lipschitz nonlinear multi-agent systems Cooperative Control of Multi-Agent Systems: A Consensus Region Approach provides a novel approach to designing distributed cooperative protocols for multi-agent systems with complex dynamics. The proposed consensus region decouples the design of the feedback gain matrices of the cooperative protocols from the communication graph and serves as a measure for the robustness of the protocols to variations of the communication graph. By exploiting the decoupling feature, adaptive cooperative protocols are presented that can be designed and implemented in a fully distributed fashion.

Examines new cooperative control methodologies tailored to real-world applications in various domains such as in communication systems, physics systems, and multi-robotic systems Provides the fundamental mechanism for solving collective behaviors in naturally-occurring systems as well as cooperative behaviors in man-made systems Discusses cooperative control methodologies using real-world applications, including semi-conductor laser arrays, mobile sensor networks, and multi-robotic systems Includes results from the research group at the Stevens Institute of Technology to show how advanced control technologies can impact challenging issues, such as high energy systems and oil spill monitoring

Cooperative Control of Multi-Agent Systems extends optimal control and adaptive control design methods to multi-agent systems on communication graphs. It develops Riccati design techniques for general linear dynamics for cooperative state feedback design, cooperative observer design, and cooperative dynamic output feedback design. Both continuous-time and discrete-time dynamical multi-agent systems are treated. Optimal cooperative control is introduced and neural adaptive design techniques for multi-agent nonlinear systems with unknown dynamics, which are rarely treated in literature are developed. Results spanning systems with first-, second- and on up to general high-order nonlinear dynamics are presented. Each control methodology proposed is developed by rigorous proofs. All algorithms are justified by simulation examples. The text is self-contained and will serve as an excellent comprehensive source of information for researchers and graduate students working with multi-agent systems.

This book brings together emerging objectives and paradigms in the control of both AC and DC microgrids; further, it facilitates the integration of renewable-energy and distribution systems through localization of generation, storage and consumption. The control objectives in a microgrid are addressed through the hierarchical control structure. After providing a comprehensive survey on the state of the art in microgrid control, the book goes on to address the most recent control schemes for both AC and DC microgrids, which are based on the distributed cooperative control of multi-agent systems. The cooperative control structure discussed distributes the co-ordination and optimization tasks across all distributed generators. This does away with the need for a central controller, and the control system will not collapse in response to the outage of a single unit. This avoids adverse effects on system flexibility and configurability, as well as the reliability concerns in connection with single points of failure that arise in traditional, centralized microgrid control schemes. Rigorous proofs develop each control methodology covered in the book, and simulation examples are provided to justify all of the proposed algorithms. Given its extensive yet self-contained content, the book offers a comprehensive source of information for graduate students, academic researchers, and practicing engineers working in the field of microgrid control and optimization.