Biblio

This paper studies the real-time implementation of distributed controllers on networked cyberphysical systems. We build on the strengths of event- and self-triggered control to synthesize a unified approach, termed team-triggered, where agents make promises to one another about their future states and are responsible for warning each other if they later decide to break them. The information provided by these promises allows individual agents to autonomously schedule information requests in the future and sets the basis for maintaining desired levels of performance at lower implementation cost. We establish provably correct guarantees for the distributed strategies that result from the proposed approach and examine their robustness against delays, packet drops, and communication noise. The results are illustrated in simulations of a multi-agent formation control problem.

This paper introduces a novel team-triggered algorithmic solution for a distributed optimal deployment problem involving a group of mobile sensors. Distributed self-triggered algorithms relieve the requirement of synchronous periodic communication among agents by providing opportunistic criteria for when communication should occur. However, these criteria are often conservative since worst-case scenarios must always be considered to ensure the monotonic evolution of a relevant objective function. Here we introduce a team-triggered algorithm that builds on the idea of `promises' among agents, allowing them to operate with better information about their neighbors when they are not communicating, over a dynamically changing graph. We analyze the correctness of the proposed strategy and establish the same convergence guarantees as a coordination algorithm that assumes perfect information at all times. The technical approach relies on tools from set-valued stability analysis, computational geometry, and event-based systems. Simulations illustrate our results.

To date, work in evolvable and adaptive hardware (EAH) has been largely isolated from primary inclusion into larger design processes. Almost without exception, EAH efforts are aimed at creating systems whole cloth, creating drop-in replacements for existing components of a larger design, or creating after-the-fact fixes for designs found to be deficient. This paper will discuss early efforts in integrating EAH methods into the design of a controller for a flapping-wing micro air vehicle (FWMAV). The FWMAV project is extensive, multidisciplinary, and on going. Because EAH methods were in consideration during its earliest design stages, this project provides a rich environment in which to explore means of effectively combining EAH and traditional design methodologies. In addition to providing a concrete EAH design that addresses potential problems with FWMAV flight in a unique way, this paper will also provide a provisional list of EAH design integration principles, drawn from our experiences to date.