A Distributed Simplex Architecture for Multi-Agent Systems
Abstract
We present Distributed Simplex Architecture (DSA), a new runtime assurance technique that provides safety guarantees for multi-agent systems (MASs). DSA is inspired by the Simplex control architecture of Sha et al., but with some significant differences. The traditional Simplex approach is limited to single-agent systems or a MAS with a centralized control scheme. DSA addresses this limitation by extending the scope of Simplex to include MASs under distributed control. In DSA, each agent has a local instance of traditional Simplex such that the preservation of safety in the local instances implies safety for the entire MAS. We provide a proof of safety for DSA, and present experimental results for several case studies, including flocking with collision avoidance, safe navigation of ground rovers through way-points, and the safe operation of a microgrid.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2012.10153,
title = {A Distributed Simplex Architecture for Multi-Agent Systems},
author = {Usama Mehmood and Scott D. Stoller and Radu Grosu and Shouvik Roy and Amol Damare and Scott A. Smolka},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2012.10153},
year = {2020}
}