Related papers: Known unknowns, unknown unknowns and information f…
Given an ensemble of autonomous agents and a task to achieve cooperatively, how much do the agents need to know about the state of the ensemble and about the task in order to achieve it? We introduce new methods to understand these aspects…
In this paper, we develop new methods for the analysis of decentralized control systems and we apply them to formation control problems. The basic set-up consists of a system with multiple agents corresponding to the nodes of a graph whose…
Finite-time optimal feedback control for flow networks under information constraints is studied. By utilizing the framework of multi-parametric linear programming, it is demonstrated that when cost/constraints can be modeled or approximated…
Decentralized systems are a subset of distributed systems where multiple authorities control different components and no authority is fully trusted by all. This implies that any component in a decentralized system is potentially…
This paper aims to provide a new perspective on the interplay between decentralization -- a prevalent character of multi-agent systems -- and centralization, i.e., the task of imposing central control to meet system-level goals. In…
This paper proposes a new architecture for multi-agent systems to cover an unknowingly distributed fast, safely, and decentralizedly. The inter-agent communication is organized by a directed graph with fixed topology, and we model agent…
We study the problem of control policy design for decentralized state-feedback linear quadratic control with a partially nested information structure, when the system model is unknown. We propose a model-based learning solution, which…
One of the most important goals of the 21st century is to change radically the way our society produces and distributes energy. This broad objective embodies in the smart grid's futuristic vision of a completely decentralized system powered…
Decentralized stochastic control refers to the multi-stage optimization of a dynamical system by multiple controllers that have access to different information. Decentralization of information gives rise to new conceptual challenges that…
We develop a theoretical framework for defining and identifying flows of information in computational systems. Here, a computational system is assumed to be a directed graph, with "clocked" nodes that send transmissions to each other along…
In formation control, an ensemble of autonomous agents is required to stabilize at a given configuration in the plane, doing so while agents are allowed to observe only a subset of the ensemble. As such, formation control provides a rich…
A crucial challenge in decentralized systems is state estimation in the presence of unknown inputs, particularly within heterogeneous sensor networks with dynamic topologies. While numerous consensus algorithms have been introduced, they…
Decentralized control systems are widely used in a number of situations and applications. In order for these systems to function properly and achieve their desired goals, information must be propagated between agents, which requires…
This paper presents power coordination, power generation, and power flow control schemes for supply-demand balance in distributed grid networks. Consensus schemes using only local information are employed to generate power coordination,…
We propose a distributed control, in which many identical control agents are deployed for controlling a linear time-invariant plant that has multiple input-output channels. Each control agent can join or leave the control loop during the…
In this work, we present a distributed framework based on the graph algorithm for computing control invariant set for nonlinear cascade systems. The proposed algorithm exploits the structure of the interconnections within a process network.…
A central task in analyzing complex dynamics is to determine the loci of information storage and the communication topology of information flows within a system. Over the last decade and a half, diagnostics for the latter have come to be…
This paper addresses the problem of navigation control of a general class of uncertain nonlinear multi-agent systems in a bounded workspace of $\mathbb{R}^n$ with static obstacles. In particular, we propose a decentralized control protocol…
For more than a century, the grid has operated in a centralized top-down fashion. However, as distributed energy resources (DERs) penetration grows, the grid edge is increasingly infused with intelligent computing and communication…
Spatial multi-agency has been receiving growing attention from researchers exploring many of the aspects and modalities of this phenomenon. The aim is to develop the theoretical background needed for a multitude of applications involving…