Passivity-Based Control for Synchronization and Coordination of Multi-Agent Systems

There is currently great interest in the control of multi-agent networked systems. Applications include mobile sensor networks, teleoperation, synchronization of oscillators, formation control of UAV’s, networked control systems in manufacturing and coordination of multiple robots. In this talk we consider the output synchronization of networked dynamic agents using passivity-based control and considering the graph topology of the inter-agent communication. Passivity-based control provides a powerful methodology for designing control laws for many classes of systems, including Lagrangian and Hamiltonian systems that satisfy a natural passivity property with respect to total energy as a storage function. We provide coupling control laws that results in output synchronization in several scenarios, including networks with switching communication topology and with arbitrary delay in communication. Our results are applicable to systems that satisfy an output passivity property or that are feedback passive. We will present several applications, including coordination of multiple robots and control of bilateral teleoperators.
Prof. Spong is Past President of the IEEE Control Systems Society, a Fellow of the IEEE and past Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Control System Technology. He served as Vice President for Publication Activities from 2000-2002 and was a member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Control Systems from 1992-2006 Society. His recent awards include the 2007 IROS Fumio Harashima Award for Innovative Technologies, the Senior Scientist Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Distinguished Member Award from the IEEE Control Systems Society, the John R. Ragazzini and O. Hugo Schuck Awards from the American Automatic Control Council, and the IEEE Third Millennium Medal. Dr. Spong's main research interests are in robotics, mechatronics, and nonlinear control theory. He has published more than 250 technical articles in control and robotics and is co-author of four books.