TOYOTA AI SEMINAR SERIES
    Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
             Stained-Glass Conference Room (3725 CSE)
             4:00 - 5:30 PM Tuesday, December 4, 2007

State Estimation and Control in Multi-agent Decision and Control Systems

                                by

                       Domitilla Del Vecchio

                        Assistant Professor
            Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Abstract:

In this talk, we consider the problem of state estimation and control
for systems characterized by both continuous and logic evolution. In
particular, multi-agent systems are considered such as multi-robot
systems. In these systems, the continuous variables represent physical
quantities such as the position and velocity of a robot, while
discrete variables may represent the state of the logical system that
is used for control and coordination. This work proposes a novel
approach to state estimation and control that exploits partial order
theory to overcome some of the severe complexity issues that arise in
multi-agent systems. A multi-robot example involving two teams of
robots competing against each other in a capture-the-flag like game is
proposed to illustrate the basic ideas.