CPS: Breakthrough: Robust Team-Triggered Coordination for Real-Time Control of Networked Cyber-Physical Systems

Abstract: The aim of this project is to lay down the foundations of a novel approach to real-time control of networked cyber-physical systems (CPS) that leverages their cooperative nature. Most networked controllers are not implementable over embedded digital computer systems because they rely on continuous time or synchronous executions that are costly to enforce. These assumptions are unrealistic when faced with the cyber-physical world, where the interaction between computational and physical components is multiplex, information acquisition is subject to error and delay, and agent schedules are asynchronous. Even without implementation obstacles, the periodic availability of information leads to a wasteful use of resources. Tuning controller execution to the task at hand offers the potential for great savings in communication, sensing, and actuation. The goal of this project is to bring this opportunity to fruition by combining event- and self-triggered control ideas into a unified approach that inherits the best of both models. The key conceptual novelty is for agents to make promises to one another about their future states and warn each other if they later decide to break them. The information provided by promises allows agents to autonomously determine when fresh information is needed, resulting in an efficient network performance. Networked cyber-physical systems are transforming the way society interacts with the physical world. Advances in this field are extending the range of human capabilities in an increasing number of areas with high societal and economic impact, such as smart energy, intelligent transportation, advanced manufacturing, health technology, and the environment. This project contributes to the science and technology of cyber-physical systems by developing a novel principled approach for networked systems to operate efficiently and cope with the sources of uncertainty present in real-word applications. The potential benefits are real-time operation in a wide range of application domains of cooperative cyber-physical systems with a superior level of efficiency and robustness than currently possible. The project promises to contribute to the training of a new generation of engineering students at UC San Diego with the skills necessary to deal with this type of multi-faceted systems and applications. The plan includes undergraduate student involvement in research, graduate supervision and curriculum development, outreach to high-school students, retention of minorities in STEM disciplines, and broad dissemination activities.