226 research outputs found
Distributed Decision Through Self-Synchronizing Sensor Networks in the Presence of Propagation Delays and Asymmetric Channels
In this paper we propose and analyze a distributed algorithm for achieving
globally optimal decisions, either estimation or detection, through a
self-synchronization mechanism among linearly coupled integrators initialized
with local measurements. We model the interaction among the nodes as a directed
graph with weights (possibly) dependent on the radio channels and we pose
special attention to the effect of the propagation delay occurring in the
exchange of data among sensors, as a function of the network geometry. We
derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the proposed system to reach a
consensus on globally optimal decision statistics. One of the major results
proved in this work is that a consensus is reached with exponential convergence
speed for any bounded delay condition if and only if the directed graph is
quasi-strongly connected. We provide a closed form expression for the global
consensus, showing that the effect of delays is, in general, the introduction
of a bias in the final decision. Finally, we exploit our closed form expression
to devise a double-step consensus mechanism able to provide an unbiased
estimate with minimum extra complexity, without the need to know or estimate
the channel parameters.Comment: To be published on IEEE Transactions on Signal Processin
Distributed Delay-Tolerant Strategies for Equality-Constraint Sum-Preserving Resource Allocation
This paper proposes two nonlinear dynamics to solve constrained distributed
optimization problem for resource allocation over a multi-agent network. In
this setup, coupling constraint refers to resource-demand balance which is
preserved at all-times. The proposed solutions can address various model
nonlinearities, for example, due to quantization and/or saturation. Further, it
allows to reach faster convergence or to robustify the solution against
impulsive noise or uncertainties. We prove convergence over weakly connected
networks using convex analysis and Lyapunov theory. Our findings show that
convergence can be reached for general sign-preserving odd nonlinearity. We
further propose delay-tolerant mechanisms to handle general bounded
heterogeneous time-varying delays over the communication network of agents
while preserving all-time feasibility. This work finds application in CPU
scheduling and coverage control among others. This paper advances the
state-of-the-art by addressing (i) possible nonlinearity on the agents/links,
meanwhile handling (ii) resource-demand feasibility at all times, (iii)
uniform-connectivity instead of all-time connectivity, and (iv) possible
heterogeneous and time-varying delays. To our best knowledge, no existing work
addresses contributions (i)-(iv) altogether. Simulations and comparative
analysis are provided to corroborate our contributions
Fast-Convergent Dynamics for Distributed Resource Allocation Over Sparse Time-Varying Networks
In this paper, distributed dynamics are deployed to solve resource allocation
over time-varying multi-agent networks. The state of each agent represents the
amount of resources used/produced at that agent while the total amount of
resources is fixed. The idea is to optimally allocate the resources among the
group of agents by reducing the total cost functions subject to fixed amount of
total resources. The information of each agent is restricted to its own state
and cost function and those of its immediate neighbors. This is motivated by
distributed applications such as in mobile edge-computing, economic dispatch
over smart grids, and multi-agent coverage control. The non-Lipschitz dynamics
proposed in this work shows fast convergence as compared to the linear and some
nonlinear solutions in the literature. Further, the multi-agent network
connectivity is more relaxed in this paper. To be more specific, the proposed
dynamics even reaches optimal solution over time-varying disconnected
undirected networks as far as the union of these networks over some bounded
non-overlapping time-intervals includes a spanning-tree. The proposed
convergence analysis can be applied for similar 1st-order resource allocation
nonlinear dynamics. We provide simulations to verify our results
Distributed Decision Through Self-Synchronizing Sensor Networks in the Presence of Propagation Delays and Nonreciprocal Channels
In this paper we propose and analyze a distributed algorithm for achieving
globally optimal decisions, either estimation or detection, through a
self-synchronization mechanism among linearly coupled integrators initialized
with local measurements. We model the interaction among the nodes as a directed
graph with weights dependent on the radio interface and we pose special
attention to the effect of the propagation delays occurring in the exchange of
data among sensors, as a function of the network geometry. We derive necessary
and sufficient conditions for the proposed system to reach a consensus on
globally optimal decision statistics. One of the major results proved in this
work is that a consensus is achieved for any bounded delay condition if and
only if the directed graph is quasi-strongly connected. We also provide a
closed form expression for the global consensus, showing that the effect of
delays is, in general, to introduce a bias in the final decision. The closed
form expression is also useful to modify the consensus mechanism in order to
get rid of the bias with minimum extra complexity.Comment: Conference paper. Journal version submitted to IEEE Transactions on
Signal Processing, January 10, 2007. Paper accepted for the publication on
the VIII IEEE Workshop on Signal Processing Advances in Wireless
Communications, (SPAWC 2007), January 22, 200
Bipartite Consensus for a Class of Nonlinear Multi-agent Systems Under Switching Topologies:A Disturbance Observer-Based Approach
This paper considers the leader-following bipartite consensus for a class of nonlinear multi-agent systems (MASs) subject to exogenous disturbances under directed fixed and switching topologies, respectively. Firstly, two new output feedback control protocols involving signs of link weights are introduced based on relative output measurements of neighboring agents. In order to estimate the disturbances produced by an exogenous system, a disturbance observer-based approach is developed. Then, sufficient conditions for leader-following bipartite consensus with directed fixed topologies are derived. Furthermore, by assuming that each switching topology contains a directed spanning tree, it is proved that the leader-following bipartite consensus can be realized with the designed output feedback control protocol if the dwell time is larger than a non-negative threshold. Finally, numerical simulations inspired by a real-world DC motors are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed controllers
A Survey on Aerial Swarm Robotics
The use of aerial swarms to solve real-world problems has been increasing steadily, accompanied by falling prices and improving performance of communication, sensing, and processing hardware. The commoditization of hardware has reduced unit costs, thereby lowering the barriers to entry to the field of aerial swarm robotics. A key enabling technology for swarms is the family of algorithms that allow the individual members of the swarm to communicate and allocate tasks amongst themselves, plan their trajectories, and coordinate their flight in such a way that the overall objectives of the swarm are achieved efficiently. These algorithms, often organized in a hierarchical fashion, endow the swarm with autonomy at every level, and the role of a human operator can be reduced, in principle, to interactions at a higher level without direct intervention. This technology depends on the clever and innovative application of theoretical tools from control and estimation. This paper reviews the state of the art of these theoretical tools, specifically focusing on how they have been developed for, and applied to, aerial swarms. Aerial swarms differ from swarms of ground-based vehicles in two respects: they operate in a three-dimensional space and the dynamics of individual vehicles adds an extra layer of complexity. We review dynamic modeling and conditions for stability and controllability that are essential in order to achieve cooperative flight and distributed sensing. The main sections of this paper focus on major results covering trajectory generation, task allocation, adversarial control, distributed sensing, monitoring, and mapping. Wherever possible, we indicate how the physics and subsystem technologies of aerial robots are brought to bear on these individual areas
Opinion Dynamics in Social Networks with Hostile Camps: Consensus vs. Polarization
Most of the distributed protocols for multi-agent consensus assume that the
agents are mutually cooperative and "trustful," and so the couplings among the
agents bring the values of their states closer. Opinion dynamics in social
groups, however, require beyond these conventional models due to ubiquitous
competition and distrust between some pairs of agents, which are usually
characterized by repulsive couplings and may lead to clustering of the
opinions. A simple yet insightful model of opinion dynamics with both
attractive and repulsive couplings was proposed recently by C. Altafini, who
examined first-order consensus algorithms over static signed graphs. This
protocol establishes modulus consensus, where the opinions become the same in
modulus but may differ in signs. In this paper, we extend the modulus consensus
model to the case where the network topology is an arbitrary time-varying
signed graph and prove reaching modulus consensus under mild sufficient
conditions of uniform connectivity of the graph. For cut-balanced graphs, not
only sufficient, but also necessary conditions for modulus consensus are given.Comment: scheduled for publication in IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control,
2016, vol. 61, no. 7 (accepted in August 2015
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