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437
Consensus and cooperation in networked multi-agent systems
- Proceedings of the IEEE
, 2007
"... Summary. This paper provides a theoretical framework for analysis of consensus algorithms for multi-agent networked systems with an emphasis on the role of directed information flow, robustness to changes in network topology due to link/node failures, time-delays, and performance guarantees. An ove ..."
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Cited by 807 (4 self)
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Summary. This paper provides a theoretical framework for analysis of consensus algorithms for multi-agent networked systems with an emphasis on the role of directed information flow, robustness to changes in network topology due to link/node failures, time-delays, and performance guarantees. An overview of basic concepts of information consensus in networks and methods of convergence and performance analysis for the algorithms are provided. Our analysis framework is based on tools from matrix theory, algebraic graph theory, and control theory. We discuss the connections between consensus problems in networked dynamic systems and diverse applications including synchronization of coupled oscillators, flocking, formation control, fast consensus in small-world networks, Markov processes and gossip-based algorithms, load balancing in networks, rendezvous in space, distributed sensor fusion in sensor networks, and belief propagation. We establish direct connections between spectral and structural properties of complex networks and the speed of information diffusion of consensus algorithms. A brief introduction is provided on networked systems with nonlocal information flow that are considerably faster than distributed systems with latticetype nearest neighbor interactions. Simulation results are presented that demonstrate the role of small-world effects on the speed of consensus algorithms and cooperative control of multi-vehicle formations.
Information Consensus in Multivehicle Cooperative Control
, 2007
"... The abundance of embedded computational resources in autonomous vehicles enables enhanced operational effectiveness through cooperative teamwork in civilian and military applications. Compared to autonomous vehicles that perform solo missions, greater efficiency and operational capability can be rea ..."
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Cited by 240 (24 self)
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The abundance of embedded computational resources in autonomous vehicles enables enhanced operational effectiveness through cooperative teamwork in civilian and military applications. Compared to autonomous vehicles that perform solo missions, greater efficiency and operational capability can be realized from teams of autonomous vehi-cles operating in a coordinated fashion. Potential applica-tions for multivehicle systems include space-based interferometers, combat, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems, hazardous material handling, and distributed reconfigurable sensor networks. To enable these applications, various cooperative control capabilities need to be developed, including formation control, rendezvous, attitude alignment, flocking, foraging, task and role assign-
Flocking in Fixed and Switching Networks
, 2003
"... The work of this paper is inspired by the flocking phenomenon observed in Reynolds (1987). We introduce a class of local control laws for a group of mobile agents that result in: (i) global alignment of their velocity vectors, (ii) convergence of their speeds to a common one, (iii) collision avoidan ..."
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Cited by 192 (10 self)
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The work of this paper is inspired by the flocking phenomenon observed in Reynolds (1987). We introduce a class of local control laws for a group of mobile agents that result in: (i) global alignment of their velocity vectors, (ii) convergence of their speeds to a common one, (iii) collision avoidance, and (iv) minimization of the agents artificial potential energy. These are made possible through local control action by exploiting the algebraic graph theoretic properties of the underlying interconnection graph. Algebraic connectivity a#ects the performance and robustness properties of the overall closed loop system. We show how the stability of the flocking motion of the group is directly associated with the connectivity properties of the interconnection network and is robust to arbitrary switching of the network topology.
Emergent behavior in flocks
- IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control
, 2007
"... PRELIMINARY VERSION. As a motivating example we consider a population, say of birds or fish, whose members are moving in IR 3. It has been observed that under some initial conditions, for example on their positions and velocities, the state of the flock converges to one ..."
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Cited by 172 (3 self)
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PRELIMINARY VERSION. As a motivating example we consider a population, say of birds or fish, whose members are moving in IR 3. It has been observed that under some initial conditions, for example on their positions and velocities, the state of the flock converges to one
A Survey of Consensus Problems in Multi-agent Coordination
, 2005
"... As a distributed solution to multi-agent coordination, consensus or agreement problems have been studied extensively in the literature. This paper provides a survey of consensus problems in multi-agent cooperative control with the goal of promoting research in this area. Theoretical results regard ..."
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Cited by 156 (3 self)
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As a distributed solution to multi-agent coordination, consensus or agreement problems have been studied extensively in the literature. This paper provides a survey of consensus problems in multi-agent cooperative control with the goal of promoting research in this area. Theoretical results regarding consensus seeking under both time-invariant and dynamically changing information exchange topologies are summarized. Applications of consensus protocols to multiagent coordination are investigated. Future research directions and open problems are also proposed.
Distributed consensus algorithms in sensor networks with communication channel noise and random link failures
- in Proc. 41st Asilomar Conf. Signals, Systems, Computers
, 2007
"... Abstract—The paper studies average consensus with random topologies (intermittent links) and noisy channels. Consensus with noise in the network links leads to the bias-variance dilemma—running consensus for long reduces the bias of the final average estimate but increases its variance. We present t ..."
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Cited by 149 (21 self)
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Abstract—The paper studies average consensus with random topologies (intermittent links) and noisy channels. Consensus with noise in the network links leads to the bias-variance dilemma—running consensus for long reduces the bias of the final average estimate but increases its variance. We present two different compromises to this tradeoff: the algorithm modifies conventional consensus by forcing the weights to satisfy a persistence condition (slowly decaying to zero;) and the algorithm where the weights are constant but consensus is run for a fixed number of iterations, then it is restarted and rerun for a total of runs, and at the end averages the final states of the runs (Monte Carlo averaging). We use controlled Markov processes and stochastic approximation arguments to prove almost sure convergence of to a finite consensus limit and compute explicitly the mean square error (mse) (variance) of the consensus limit. We show that represents the best of both worlds—zero bias and low variance—at the cost of a slow convergence rate; rescaling the weights balances the variance versus the rate of bias reduction (convergence rate). In contrast, , because of its constant weights, converges fast but presents a different bias-variance tradeoff. For the same number of iterations, shorter runs (smaller) lead to high bias but smaller variance (larger number of runs to average over.) For a static nonrandom network with Gaussian noise, we compute the optimal gain for to reach in the shortest number of iterations, with high probability (1), ()-consensus ( residual bias). Our results hold under fairly general assumptions on the random link failures and communication noise. Index Terms—Additive noise, consensus, sensor networks, stochastic approximation, random topology. I.
Stability of continuous-time distributed consensus algorithms
, 2004
"... We study the stability properties of linear time-varying systems in continuous time whose system matrix is Metzler with zero row sums. This class of systems arises naturally in the context of distributed decision problems, coordination and rendezvous tasks and synchronization problems. The equilibri ..."
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Cited by 137 (0 self)
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We study the stability properties of linear time-varying systems in continuous time whose system matrix is Metzler with zero row sums. This class of systems arises naturally in the context of distributed decision problems, coordination and rendezvous tasks and synchronization problems. The equilibrium set contains all states with identical state components. We present sufficient conditions guaranteeing uniform exponential stability of this equilibrium set, implying that all state components converge to a common value as time grows unbounded. Furthermore it is shown that this convergence result is robust with respect to an arbitrary delay, provided that the delay affects only the off-diagonal terms in the differential equation.
Autonomous vehicle-target assignment: a game theoretical formulation
- ASME JOURNAL OF DYNAMIC SYSTEMS, MEASUREMENT AND CONTROL
, 2007
"... We consider an autonomous vehicle-target assignment problem where a group of vehicles are expected to optimally assign themselves to a set of targets. We introduce a game-theoretical formulation of the problem in which the vehicles are viewed as self-interested decision makers. Thus, we seek the opt ..."
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Cited by 89 (22 self)
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We consider an autonomous vehicle-target assignment problem where a group of vehicles are expected to optimally assign themselves to a set of targets. We introduce a game-theoretical formulation of the problem in which the vehicles are viewed as self-interested decision makers. Thus, we seek the optimization of a global utility function through autonomous vehicles that are capable of making individually rational decisions to optimize their own utility functions. The first important aspect of the problem is to choose the utility functions of the vehicles in such a way that the objectives of the vehicles are localized to each vehicle yet aligned with a global utility function. The second important aspect of the problem is to equip the vehicles with an appropriate negotiation mechanism by which each vehicle pursues the optimization of its own utility function. We present several design procedures and accompanying caveats for vehicle utility design. We present two new negotiation mechanisms, namely, “generalized regret monitoring with fading memory and inertia ” and “selective spatial adaptive play, ” and provide accompanying proofs of their convergence. Finally, we present simulations that illustrate how vehicle negotiations can consistently lead to near-optimal assignments provided that the utilities of the vehicles are designed appropriately.
Communication Constraints in the Average Consensus Problem
, 2007
"... The interrelationship between control and communication theory is becoming of fundamental importance in many distributed control systems, such as the coordination of a team of autonomous agents. In such a problem, communication constraints impose limits on the achievable control performance. We cons ..."
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Cited by 81 (19 self)
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The interrelationship between control and communication theory is becoming of fundamental importance in many distributed control systems, such as the coordination of a team of autonomous agents. In such a problem, communication constraints impose limits on the achievable control performance. We consider as instance of coordination the consensus problem. The aim of the paper is to characterize the relationship between the amount of information exchanged by the agents and the rate of convergence to the consensus. We show that time-invariant communication networks with circulant symmetries yield slow convergence if the amount of information exchanged by the agents does not scale well with their number. On the other hand, we show that randomly time-varying communication networks allow very fast convergence rates. We also show that, by adding logarithmic quantized data links to time-invariant networks with symmetries, control performance significantly improves with little growth of the required communication effort.
On consensus algorithms for double-integrator dynamics
"... Abstract — This paper extends some existing results in consen-sus algorithms for double-integrator dynamics. We propose con-sensus algorithms for double-integrator dynamics in four cases: (i) with a bounded control input, (ii) without relative velocity measurement, (iii) without relative velocity me ..."
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Cited by 68 (6 self)
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Abstract — This paper extends some existing results in consen-sus algorithms for double-integrator dynamics. We propose con-sensus algorithms for double-integrator dynamics in four cases: (i) with a bounded control input, (ii) without relative velocity measurement, (iii) without relative velocity measurement in the presence of a group reference velocity, and (iv) with a bounded control input and with partial access to a group reference state. We show that consensus is reached asymptotically for the first two cases if the undirected interaction graph is connected. We further show that consensus is reached asymptotically for the third case if the directed interaction graph has a directed spanning tree and the gain for velocity matching with the group reference velocity is above a certain bound. We also show that consensus is reached asymptotically for the fourth case if and only if the group reference state flows directly or indirectly to all of the vehicles in the team. I.
