Localization Algorithms for GNSS-denied and Challenging Environments

In this dissertation, the problem about localization in GNSS-denied and challenging environments is addressed. Specifically, the challenging environments discussed in this dissertation include two different types, environments including only low-resolution features and environments containing moving objects. To achieve accurate pose estimates, the errors are always bounded through matching observations from sensors with surrounding environments. These challenging environments, unfortunately, would bring troubles into matching related methods, such as fingerprint matching, and ICP. For instance, in environments with low-resolution features, the on-board sensor measurements could match to multiple positions on a map, which creates ambiguity; in environments with moving objects included, the accuracy of the estimated localization is affected by the moving objects when performing matching. In this dissertation, two sensor fusion based strategies are proposed to solve localization problems with respect to these two types of challenging environments, respectively. For environments with only low-resolution features, such as flying over sea or desert, a multi-agent localization algorithm using pairwise communication with ranging and magnetic anomaly measurements is proposed in this dissertation. A scalable framework is then presented to extend the multi-agent localization algorithm to be suitable for a large group of agents (e.g., 128 agents) through applying CI algorithm. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm is able to deal with large group sizes, achieve 10 meters level localization performance with 180 km traveling distance, while under restrictive communication constraints. For environments including moving objects, lidar-inertial-based solutions are proposed and tested in this dissertation. Inspired by the CI algorithm presented above, a potential solution using multiple features motions estimate and tracking is analyzed. In order to improve the performance and effectiveness of the potential solution, a lidar-inertial based SLAM algorithm is then proposed. In this method, an efficient tightly-coupled iterated Kalman filter with a build-in dynamic object filter is designed as the front-end of the SLAM algorithm, and the factor graph strategy using a scan context technology as the loop closure detection is utilized as the back-end. The performance of the proposed lidar-inertial based SLAM algorithm is evaluated with several data sets collected in environments including moving objects, and compared with the state-of-the-art lidar-inertial based SLAM algorithms

Can Competition Outperform Collaboration? The Role of Misbehaving Agents

We investigate a novel approach to resilient distributed optimization with quadratic costs in a multi-agent system prone to unexpected events that make some agents misbehave. In contrast to commonly adopted filtering strategies, we draw inspiration from phenomena modeled through the Friedkin-Johnsen dynamics and argue that adding competition to the mix can improve resilience in the presence of misbehaving agents. Our intuition is corroborated by analytical and numerical results showing that (i) there exists a nontrivial trade-off between full collaboration and full competition and (ii) our competition-based approach can outperform state-of-the-art algorithms based on Weighted Mean Subsequence Reduced. We also study impact of communication topology and connectivity on resilience, pointing out insights to robust network design.Comment: Submitted to IEEE TAC - first revisio

Distributed estimation techniques forcyber-physical systems

Nowadays, with the increasing use of wireless networks, embedded devices and agents with processing and sensing capabilities, the development of distributed estimation techniques has become vital to monitor important variables of the system that are not directly available. Numerous distributed estimation techniques have been proposed in the literature according to the model of the system, noises and disturbances. One of the main objectives of this thesis is to search all those works that deal with distributed estimation techniques applied to cyber-physical systems, system of systems and heterogeneous systems, through using systematic review methodology. Even though systematic reviews are not the common way to survey a topic in the control community, they provide a rigorous, robust and objective formula that should not be ignored. The presented systematic review incorporates and adapts the guidelines recommended in other disciplines to the field of automation and control and presents a brief description of the different phases that constitute a systematic review. Undertaking the systematic review many gaps were discovered: it deserves to be remarked that some estimators are not applied to cyber-physical systems, such as sliding mode observers or set-membership observers. Subsequently, one of these particular techniques was chosen, set-membership estimator, to develop new applications for cyber-physical systems. This introduces the other objectives of the thesis, i.e. to present two novel formulations of distributed set-membership estimators. Both estimators use a multi-hop decomposition, so the dynamics of the system is rewritten to present a cascaded implementation of the distributed set-membership observer, decoupling the influence of the non-observable modes to the observable ones. So each agent must find a different set for each sub-space, instead of a unique set for all the states. Two different approaches have been used to address the same problem, that is, to design a guaranteed distributed estimation method for linear full-coupled systems affected by bounded disturbances, to be implemented in a set of distributed agents that need to communicate and collaborate to achieve this goal