NeTS: Medium: Collaborative Research: Optimal Communication for Faster Sensor Network Coordination

该项目的目标是开发一种新的框架，其中移动机器人团队自我设计其通信网络结构，以提高用于团队协调的分布式算法的性能。实现这项工作的关键思想是用度量来表示网络结构，该度量依赖于网络的邻接和拉普拉斯矩阵的完整特征值谱，但可以以非常有效和分散的方式进行近似。然后，这些指标可以与流行的分布式协调算法的性能相关，例如共识、八卦和病毒信息传播。这项研究的智能价值在于开发了一种在网络配置和机器人位置空间中联合控制的混合移动机器人网络。对集成系统的研究需要综合控制论、谱图理论、无线组网和最优化等新的理论结果。这种混合网络结合了以下相互关联的目标：机器人网络的频谱分析和分布式控制；集成网络和移动控制；更丰富的通信空间模型；平台部署和验证。这项研究的成功完成将为促进移动自主系统的设计和推广提供必要的组件。这类系统的广泛使用可对搜索、救援和恢复行动、国土安全环境监测或监视和侦察任务产生重大社会影响。该项目的更广泛影响在于在产业界和学术界传播研究成果。

The goal of this project is to develop a new framework where teams of mobile robots self-engineer the structure of their communication network in order to improve on the performance of distributed algorithms used for team coordination. The key idea that enables this work is the representation of the network structure in terms of metrics that depend on the full eigenvalue spectrum of the network's adjacency and Laplacian matrices, but can be approximated in a very efficient and decentralized way. These metrics can then be related to the performance of popular, distributed, coordination algorithms, such as consensus, gossiping, and viral information dissemination. The intellectual merit of this research lies in the development of a hybrid network of mobile robots that is controlled jointly in the space of network configurations and robot positions. The study of the integrated system requires the synthesis of new theoretical results drawing from control theory, spectral graph theory, wireless networking, and optimization. This hybrid network combines the following interrelated objectives: Spectral analysis and distributed control of robot networks; Integrated network and mobility control; Richer models of the communication space; Platform deployment and validation.Successful completion of this research will provide these necessary components in facilitating the design of mobile autonomous systems and fostering their adoption. Wide availability of such systems can have a significant societal impact on, e.g., search, rescue and recovery operations, environmental monitoring for homeland security, or surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The broader impact of this project lies on disseminating the research output in the industry and academia.