Control of Automata-Switched Distributed Systems

该项目旨在开发使用分布式架构控制动态系统的计算算法和理论，其中存在连续和逻辑动态的组合。这种情况是由物理、通信和计算机过程的耦合造成的。这项工作有非常广泛的相关应用，在这个项目中，我们特别强调它在网络机器人中的应用。所追求的具体方法和技术主要来自半确定规划，图论，团队理论和鲁棒控制方法（例如，算子理论，二次成本函数和汉密尔顿-雅可比不等式，IQCs），提供一个统一的框架，在其中处理和考虑基于计算机的规则，通信延迟和数据包丢失，不确定环境中的障碍，轨迹跟踪和非线性动力学，使用分布式架构。所提出的研究的详细实施也将在PI的先进分布式机器人试验台上进行，以提供使用该研究的明确演示和设计示例。测试平台的实施也将用于高中推广和本科研究。该方案的主要目标是提供一个系统的方法，分布式控制系统，具有离散和连续的动态，使用凸优化和半确定规划为基础。它的起点涉及PI研究小组最近取得的两项独立的成功。第一部分涉及自动机切换系统集中控制的综合方法，自动机切换系统是由有限自动机驱动的切换系统。第二个最近的成就将形成这个程序的基础，是对一般图拓扑的分布式控制的工作。上述两个组成部分的结合为该项目提供了启动点，计划议程将处理理论，计算和实现。在这个项目中，有特别计划的机会让本科生参与机电一体化项目的研究，以及嵌入式系统软件和基于网络的软件的设计。(2)本计划的研究目标是由计算机自动控制的物理系统，可能通过互联网或使用无线技术。这些系统包括自主地面机器人，例如可用于平行配电系统、有害物质清理或大型结构的协调组装；无人驾驶飞行器的具体应用可以是救灾期间的搜索和救援，或分布式探测。这个项目的主要目标是有能力创建机器人团队，这些团队可以以类似于人类使用的方式进行协调，但可以信任它们以可预测的、唯一有益的方式执行任务。虽然这一目标很重要，但实现这一作战能力仍然存在巨大障碍。关键问题是，尽管目前有可能设计和物理构建无需人工辅助即可运行的高性能系统，但我们无法以任何程度的信心预测它们在与环境自主交互时的行为，因为此类系统的控制算法必然非常复杂。该项目的主要目标和成果将是创建工具和算法，可用于直接设计具有安全保障的机器人和更广泛的自主系统。

This project aims at developing computational algorithms and theory for control of dynamical systems using distributed architectures, where a combination of continuous and logical dynamics are present. This situation results from the coupling of physical, communications and computer processes. The work has a very broad set of associated applications, and in this project we particularly emphasize its use in networked robotics. The specific approach and techniques pursued stem mainly from semidefinite programming, graph theory, team theory, and robust control methods (e.g., operator theory, quadratic cost functions and Hamilton-Jacobi inequalities, IQCs), providing a unified framework in which to deal with and consider computer-based rules, communication latency and packet loss, obstacles in an uncertain environment, trajectory tracking, and nonlinear dynamics, using a distributed architecture. Detailed implementations of the proposed research will also be carried out on the PI's advanced distributed robotic testbed to provide explicit demonstrations and design examples using the research. The testbed implementations will also be used for high school outreach and undergraduate research. The major goal of the program is to provide a systematic approach to distributed control of systems that have both discrete and continuous dynamics, using convex optimization and semidefinite programming as the basis. Its starting point involves two separate recent successes in the PI's research group. The first involves synthesis methods for centralized control of automata-switched systems, which are switched systems where the switching is driven by a finite automaton. The second recent achievement that will form a basis for this program is work on distributed control over general graph topologies. The combination of the above two components provide the launching point for this project, and the program agenda will tackle theory, computation, and implementation. In this project there are specifically planned opportunities to involve undergraduate in research through mechatronics projects, and design of both embedded systems software and web-based software.(2) The research in this program targets physical systems that are to be automatically controlled by computers, possibly over the Internet or using wireless technology. Such systems include autonomous ground robots, which could for instance be used in parallel distribution systems, cleanup of hazardous materials, or coordinated assembly of large-scale structures; and unmanned aerial vehicles where specific applications could for instance be search-and-rescue during disaster relief, or distributed detection. Having the ability to create robotic teams that can coordinate in ways similar to those that humans use, but that can be trusted to perform in predictable, and only-beneficial, ways is the major goal of this program. Although this goal is an important one there remains a formidable barrier to achieving this operational capability. The key problem is that although it is currently possible to engineer and physically construct high-performance systems that can run without human assistance, we cannot predict with any degree of confidence how they will behave when interacting autonomously with their environment, because the control algorithms for such systems are necessarily very complex. The major goal and product of this program will be the creation of tools and algorithms that can be used to directly design robots and more generally autonomous systems that have safety guarantees.