Control of Networked Multi-Agent Decision Systems

合作控制系统的现实例子包括：搜索和救援行动中的机器人和无人驾驶飞机，用于军事监视和攻击任务的自动驾驶车辆，以及形成空间望远镜分布式大孔径的卫星阵列。取决于使命，要协调的运动可以是精确的编队或所谓的群集，其可以在一群鸟或一群鱼的运动中看到。本研究将探讨互联系统在不同实际情形下的动态行为，例如代理人之间的部分或完全通信故障。该项目将解决三类问题：（1）高性能瞬态行为，（2）网络引起的延迟和数据包丢失，（3）自治代理数量过大的情况下。该项目的智力价值在于它有助于理解控制一系列连接系统及其交互行为的问题。该项目更广泛的影响在于网络协同控制研究的跨学科性质。 在这一领域开发的技术将不可避免地影响广泛的工程学科，包括控制，通信和计算机，提高获奖机构的研究能力。

Real-world examples of cooperative control systems include:robots and unmanned aircraft in search and rescue operations, autonomous vehicles for military surveillance and attack missions, and an array of satellites to form a distributed large aperture of a space telescope. Depending on the mission, the motion to be coordinated may be an exact formation or so-called flocking which can be seen in the motion of a flock of birds or a school of fish. The proposed research will investigate dynamic behavior of interconnected systems under various realistic situations such as partial orcomplete communication failures between agents. The project will solve three categories of problems: (1)high performance transient behavior, (2)network-induced delay and packet-loss, and (3)the case when the number of autonomous agents is excessively large.The intellectual merit of this project lies in its contribution to the understanding of the problem of controlling an array of connected systems and their interactive behavior. The broader impact of the project lies in the inter-disciplinary nature of networked cooperative control research. Technologies developed in this area will inevitably impact a wide range of engineering disciplines including controls, communications, and computers enhancing the research capability of the awardee institution.