Multi-agent systems, an important class of interconnected/networked systems composing a group of distributed interacting entities, have been emerging as a powerful paradigm for various unprecedented engineering applications, such as spacecraft formation flying, air-traffic management, sensory networks, etc. Through collaboration, a multi-agent system can accomplish numerous complicated control tasks that surpass the capability of a single dynamical system, such as moving an oversized object, environmental monitoring, and disaster search/rescue. Moreover, a multi-agent system can solve some problems faster using parallelism and increase robustness through redundancy. However, implementing cooperative multi-agent systems also presents challenges, making many related applications (especially those demanding critical controlled performance) remain conceptual. One important challenge lies in the lack of a systematic approach that allows control engineers to treat associated multi-agent distributed control design in a computationally-efficient and fully-integrated manner. Existing approaches of separating the design into high- and low-level controls often fail to analytically guarantee reliability, which is a critical requirement for acceptance by control engineers. This project supports fundamental research to provide the knowledge needed to overcome these challenges, thereby promoting broader real-world applications of multi-agent distributed control techniques. This project will also create unique opportunities to promote engineering education through the development of a cross-departmental robotics engineering program, and to boost minority involvement in scientific research.

https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1952862&HistoricalAwards=false

For more details, please contact Professor Chengzhi Yuan at cyuan@uri.edu