Related papers: Robustness of optimal intermittent search strategi…

This study proposes a new automated strategy for designing and optimizing three-dimensional interplanetary low-thrust (LT) trajectories. The method formulates the design as a hybrid optimal control problem and solves it using a two-step…

We analyze networked heterogeneous nonlinear systems, with diffusive coupling and interconnected over a generic static directed graph. Due to the network's hetereogeneity, complete synchronization is impossible, in general, but an emergent…

We address the problem where a mobile search agent seeks to find an unknown number of stationary objects distributed in a bounded search domain, and the search mission is subject to time/distance constraint. Our work accounts for false…

We consider a class of models describing an ensemble of identical interacting agents subject to multiplicative noise. In the thermodynamic limit, these systems exhibit continuous and discontinuous phase transitions in a, generally,…

While microscopic organisms can use gradient-based search to locate resources, this strategy can be poorly suited to the sensory signals available to macroscopic organisms. We propose a framework that models search-decision making in cases…

Consider a target moving at a constant velocity on a unit-circumference circle, starting at an arbitrary location. To acquire the target, any region of the circle can be probed to obtain a noisy measurement of the target's presence, where…

The problem of searching for an unknown object occurs in important applications ranging from security, medicine and defense. Sensors with the capability to process information rapidly require adaptive algorithms to control their search in…

Path planning in the presence of dynamic obstacles is a challenging problem due to the added time dimension in search space. In approaches that ignore the time dimension and treat dynamic obstacles as static, frequent re-planning is…

A new pattern search method for bound constrained optimization is introduced. The proposed algorithm employs the coordinate directions, in a suitable way, with a nonmonotone line search for accepting the new iterate, without using…

We present an active visual search model for finding objects in unknown environments. The proposed algorithm guides the robot towards the sought object using the relevant stimuli provided by the visual sensors. Existing search strategies…

The problem of quickest growing dynamic anomaly detection in sensor networks is studied. Initially, the observations at the sensors, which are sampled sequentially by the decision maker, are generated according to a pre-change distribution.…

Scheduling problems in manufacturing, logistics and project management have frequently been modeled using the framework of Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problems with minimum and maximum time lags (RCPSP/max). Due to the…

The process of training an artificial neural network involves iteratively adapting its parameters so as to minimize the error of the network's prediction, when confronted with a learning task. This iterative change can be naturally…

Animal cells can sense chemical gradients without moving, and are faced with the challenge of migrating towards a target despite noisy information on the target position. Here we discuss optimal search strategies for a chaser that moves by…

Many foraging animals find food using composite random search strategies, which consist of intensive and extensive search modes. Models of composite search can generate predictions about how optimal foragers should behave in each search…

Active search, in applications like environment monitoring or disaster response missions, involves autonomous agents detecting targets in a search space using decision making algorithms that adapt to the history of their observations.…

Random walks on lattices with preferential relocation to previously visited sites provide a simple framework for modeling the displacements of animals and humans. When the lattice contains a few impurities or resource sites where the walker…

Suppose one wants to monitor a domain with sensors, each sensing a small ball-shaped region, but the domain is hazardous enough that one cannot control the placement of the sensors. A prohibitively large number of randomly placed sensors…

Consider a two-person zero-sum search game between a hider and a searcher. The hider hides among $n$ discrete locations, and the searcher successively visits individual locations until finding the hider. Known to both players, a search at…

Diffusion models have shown promising generative capabilities across diverse domains, yet aligning their outputs with desired reward functions remains a challenge, particularly in cases where reward functions are non-differentiable. Some…