Distributed Coordination Of Multi Agent Networks

Distributed Coordination of Multi-agent Networks introduces problems, models, and issues such as collective periodic motion coordination, collective tracking with a dynamic leader, and containment control with multiple leaders, and explores ideas for their solution. Solving these problems extends the existing application domains of multi-agent networks; for example, collective periodic motion coordination is appropriate for applications involving repetitive movements, collective tracking guarantees tracking of a dynamic leader by multiple followers in the presence of reduced interaction and partial measurements, and containment control enables maneuvering of multiple followers by multiple leaders.

Challenges arise when the size of a group of cooperating agents is scaled to hundreds or thousands of members. In domains such as space exploration, military and disaster response, groups of this size (or larger) are required to achieve extremely complex, distributed goals. To effectively and efficiently achieve their goals, members of a group need to cohesively follow a joint course of action while remaining flexible to unforeseen developments in the environment. Coordination of Large-Scale Multiagent Systems provides extensive coverage of the latest research and novel solutions being developed in the field. It describes specific systems, such as SERSE and WIZER, as well as general approaches based on game theory, optimization and other more theoretical frameworks. It will be of interest to researchers in academia and industry, as well as advanced-level students.

Challenges arise when the size of a group of cooperating agents is scaled to hundreds or thousands of members. In domains such as space exploration, military and disaster response, groups of this size (or larger) are required to achieve extremely complex, distributed goals. To effectively and efficiently achieve their goals, members of a group need to cohesively follow a joint course of action while remaining flexible to unforeseen developments in the environment. Coordination of Large-Scale Multiagent Systems provides extensive coverage of the latest research and novel solutions being developed in the field. It describes specific systems, such as SERSE and WIZER, as well as general approaches based on game theory, optimization and other more theoretical frameworks. It will be of interest to researchers in academia and industry, as well as advanced-level students.

Multi-agent systems are special networked systems full of research interest and practical sense, which are abundant in real life, ranging from mobile robot networks, intelligent transportation management, to multiple spacecraft, surveillance and monitoring. Consensus control is one of the most typical and hot research issues for multi-agent systems. Distributed Adaptive Consensus Control of Uncertain Multi-agent Systems provides innovative technologies to design and analyze distributed adaptive consensus for multi-agent systems with model uncertainties. Based on the basic graph theory and adaptive backstepping control, this monograph: · Describes the state of the art on distributed adaptive control, finite-time consensus control and event-triggered consensus control · Studies distributed adaptive consensus under directed communication graph condition: the methods with linearly parametric reference, hierarchical decomposition, and design of auxiliary filers · Explores adaptive finite-time consensus for uncertain nonlinear systems · Considers distributed adaptive consensus with event-triggered communication via state feedback and output feedback · Investigates distributed adaptive formation control of nonholonomic mobile robots with experimental verification · Provides distributed adaptive attitude synchronization control schemes for multiple spacecraft with event-triggered communication Distributed Adaptive Consensus Control of Uncertain Multi-agent Systems can help engineering students and professionals to efficiently learn distributed adaptive control design tool for handling uncertain multi-agent systems with directed communication graph, guaranteeing finite-time convergence and saving communication resources.

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.

Multiagent systems (MAS) are one of the most exciting and the fastest growing domains in the intelligent resource management and agent-oriented technology, which deals with modeling of autonomous decisions making entities. Recent developments have produced very encouraging results in the novel approach of handling multiplayer interactive systems. In particular, the multiagent system approach is adapted to model, control, manage or test the operations and management of several system applications including multi-vehicles, microgrids, multi-robots, where agents represent individual entities in the network. Each participant is modeled as an autonomous participant with independent strategies and responses to outcomes. They are able to operate autonomously and interact pro-actively with their environment. In recent works, the problem of information consensus is addressed, where a team of vehicles communicate with each other to agree on key pieces of information that enable them to work together in a coordinated fashion. The problem is challenging because communication channels have limited range and there are possibilities of fading and dropout. The book comprises chapters on synchronization and consensus in multiagent systems. It shows that the joint presentation of synchronization and consensus enables readers to learn about similarities and differences of both concepts. It reviews the cooperative control of multi-agent dynamical systems interconnected by a communication network topology. Using the terminology of cooperative control, each system is endowed with its own state variable and dynamics. A fundamental problem in multi-agent dynamical systems on networks is the design of distributed protocols that guarantee consensus or synchronization in the sense that the states of all the systems reach the same value. It is evident from the results that research in multiagent systems offer opportunities for further developments in theoretical, simulation and implementations. This book attempts to fill this gap and aims at presenting a comprehensive volume that documents theoretical aspects and practical applications.

This book offers a concise and in-depth exposition of specific algorithmic solutions for distributed optimization based control of multi-agent networks and their performance analysis. It synthesizes and analyzes distributed strategies for three collaborative tasks: distributed cooperative optimization, mobile sensor deployment and multi-vehicle formation control. The book integrates miscellaneous ideas and tools from dynamic systems, control theory, graph theory, optimization, game theory and Markov chains to address the particular challenges introduced by such complexities in the environment as topological dynamics, environmental uncertainties, and potential cyber-attack by human adversaries. The book is written for first- or second-year graduate students in a variety of engineering disciplines, including control, robotics, decision-making, optimization and algorithms and with backgrounds in aerospace engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and operations research. Researchers in these areas may also find the book useful as a reference.

A timely guide using iterative learning control (ILC) as a solution for multi-agent systems (MAS) challenges, showcasing recent advances and industrially relevant applications Explores the synergy between the important topics of iterative learning control (ILC) and multi-agent systems (MAS) Concisely summarizes recent advances and significant applications in ILC methods for power grids, sensor networks and control processes Covers basic theory, rigorous mathematics as well as engineering practice