Networked multi-agent cooperative control: theory and applications

网络化的多智能体系统是由多个相互作用的动态智能体通过通信网络连接而成，可以解决单个智能体难以解决或无法解决的问题。应用实例包括：地雷搜索移动机器人团队；监视用无人驾驶飞行器；以及用于海底勘探的水下航行器。这些都是保持加拿大在全球知识型经济中的突出地位的重要领域。主要目标是通过设计一个网络化的协同控制策略，使智能体的行为一致，即所谓的共识问题。然而，通信网络和复杂的智能体动态给控制工程师和设计者带来了巨大的挑战：(1)智能体之间的多速率信息传输；(2)网络引起的随机延迟和数据包丢失；(3)智能体的异构动态。现有的控制设计方法跟不上技术的发展，大多数协作控制理论和实践忽略了上述实际通信约束，这可能会严重降低性能。

A networked multi-agent system, being composed of multiple interacting dynamic agents connected via communication networks, can be used to solve problems which are difficult or impossible for an individual agent. Application examples include: a team of mobile robots for land mine search; unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance; and, underwater vehicles for undersea exploration. These are all critical areas of importance to maintaining Canada's prominence in the global knowledge-based economy. The primary objective is to make the agents behave consistently, the so called consensus problem, by designing a networked cooperative control strategy. However, communication networks and complex agent dynamics present tremendous challenges to control engineers and designers: (1) the multirate information transmission among agents, (2) network-induced random delays and packet losses, and (3) the heterogeneous dynamics of agents. Existing control design methodology has not kept pace with the technology - most cooperative control theory and practice ignore the aforementioned practical communication constraints, which may significantly degrade performance. The research program will contribute to the fundamental understanding and unified design framework of such networked multi-agent systems that operate in complex, unstructured environments and over unreliable communication networks. This research will integrate communication and cooperative control in ways that will both increase the cooperative control performance and the ability of involved agents to work together in complex tasks. The proposed research program will fill the gap between theory and practice; it will provide control engineers with new tools for analysis and synthesis of the cooperative control for networked multi-agent systems; it will establish a novel unified paradigm addressing practical constraints. Furthermore, the program will greatly benefit graduate students through technology- and industry-relevant research training.