Decentralized, Adaptive Control for Coverage with Networked Robots

— A decentralized, adaptive control law is presented to drive a network of mobile robots to a near-optimal sensing configuration. The control law is adaptive in that it integrates sensor measurements to provide a converging estimate of the distribution of sensory information in the environment. It is decentralized in that it requires only information local to each robot. A Lyapunov-type proof is used to show that the control law causes the network to converge to a near-optimal sensing configuration, and the controller is demonstrated in numerical simulations. This technique suggests a broader application of adaptive control methodologies to decentralized control problems in unknown dynamical environments.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: ICRA
• Authors: Mac Schwager, Jean-Jacques E. Slotine, Daniela Rus
• Keywords: Adaptive Control, Control Law, ICRA 2007, Near-optimal Sensing Configuration, Robotics