Hierarchical Motion Planning and Tracking for Autonomous Vehicles Using Global Heuristic Based Potential Field and Reinforcement Learning Based Predictive Control

The autonomous vehicle is widely applied in various ground operations, in which motion planning and tracking control are becoming the key technologies to achieve autonomous driving. In order to further improve the performance of motion planning and tracking control, an efficient hierarchical framework containing motion planning and tracking...

Optimal Selection and Tracking of Generalized Nash Equilibria in Monotone Games

A fundamental open problem in monotone game theory is the computation of a specific generalized Nash equilibrium (GNE) among all the available ones, e.g. the optimal equilibrium with respect to a system-level objective. The existing GNE seeking algorithms have in fact convergence guarantees toward an arbitrary, possibly inefficient,...

Group-Based Distributed Auction Algorithms for Multi-Robot Task Assignment

This paper studies the multi-robot task assignment problem in which a fleet of dispersed robots needs to efficiently transport a set of dynamically appearing packages from their initial locations to corresponding destinations within prescribed time-windows. Each robot can carry multiple packages simultaneously within its capacity. Given a...

A Scalable Distributed Dynamical Systems Approach to Learn the Strongly Connected Components and Diameter of Networks

Finding strongly connected components (SCCs) and the diameter of a directed network play a key role in a variety of machine learning and control theory problems. In this article, we provide for the first time a scalable distributed solution for these two problems by leveraging dynamical consensus-like protocols to find the SCCs. The proposed...

Adaptive Composite Online Optimization: Predictions in Static and Dynamic Environments

In the past few years, online convex optimization (OCO) has received notable attention in the control literature thanks to its flexible real-time nature and powerful performance guarantees. In this article, we propose new step-size rules and OCO algorithms that simultaneously exploit gradient predictions, function predictions and dynamics,...

Topological-Graph Dependencies and Scaling Properties of a Heuristic Qubit-Assignment Algorithm

The qubit-mapping problem aims to assign and route qubits of a quantum circuit onto an noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) device in an optimized fashion, with respect to some cost function. Finding an optimal solution to this problem is known to scale exponentially in computational complexity; as such, it is imperative to investigate...

Distributed Time-Varying Optimization of Second-Order Multiagent Systems Under Limited Interaction Ranges

This article investigates the distributed time-varying optimization problem for second-order multiagent systems (MASs) under limited interaction ranges. The goal is to seek the minimum of the sum of local time-varying cost functions (CFs), where each CF is only available to the corresponding agent. Limited communication range refers to the...

An MPC-Based Rescheduling Algorithm for Disruptions and Disturbances in Large-Scale Railway Networks

Railways are a well-recognized sustainable transportation mode that helps to satisfy the continuously growing mobility demand. However, the management of railway traffic in large-scale networks is a challenging task, especially when both a major disruption and various disturbances occur simultaneously. We propose an automatic rescheduling...

Barrier Function-based Safe Reinforcement Learning for Formation Control of Mobile Robots

Distributed model predictive control (DMPC) concerns how to online control multiple robotic systems with constraints effectively. However, the nonlinearity, nonconvexity, and strong interconnections of dynamic system models and constraints can make the real-time and real-world DMPC implementations nontrivial. Reinforcement learning (RL)...

Free Energy Principle for State and Input Estimation of a Quadcopter Flying in Wind

The free energy principle from neuroscience provides a brain-inspired perception scheme through a data-driven model learning algorithm called Dynamic Expectation Maximization (DEM). This paper aims at introducing an exper-imental design to provide the first experimental confirmation of the usefulness of DEM as a state and input estimator for...

Excitation allocation for generic identifiability of linear dynamic networks with fixed modules

Identifiability of linear dynamic networks requires the presence of a sufficient number of external excitation signals. The problem of allocating a minimal number of external signals for guaranteeing generic network identifiability in the full measurement case has been recently addressed in the literature. Here we will extend that work by...

Single-Leg Forward Hopping via Nonlinear Modes

Implementing dynamic legged locomotion entails stabilizing oscillatory behaviors in complex mechanical systems. Whenever possible, locomotion algorithms should also exploit the improved capabilities of elastic elements added to the structure to improve efficiency and robustness. This work aims to shed some light on implementing generic dynamic...

Online Multi-Robot Task Assignment with Stochastic Blockages

In this paper we study the multi-robot task assignment problem with tasks that appear online and need to be serviced within a fixed time window in an uncertain environment. For example, when deployed in dynamic, human-centered environments, the team of robots may not have perfect information about the environment. Parts of the environment may...

Secure Control for Cyber-Physical Systems under Malicious Attacks

This article investigates the secure control problem for cyber-physical systems when the malicious data are injected into the cyber realm, which directly connects to the actuators. Based on moving target defense (MTD) and reinforcement learning, we propose a novel proactive and reactive defense control scheme. First, the system (A,B) is...

Container transport inside the port area and to the hinterland

This thesis discusses the connection between container terminals and the hinterland railway system. Mathematical models are proposed to formulate the various relevant operations and methods are developed to provide solutions to improve the system performance. This thesis could provide suggestions to decision maker(s) regarding to the improvement...

Target Selection for Tracking in Multifunction Radar Networks: Nash and Correlated Equilibria

We consider a target selection problem for multitarget tracking in a multifunction radar network from a gametheoretic perspective. The problem is formulated as a noncooperative game. The radars are considered to be players in this game with utilities modeled using a proper tracking accuracy criterion and their strategies are the observed...

Biometric palmprint verification: A dynamical system approach

Most of the existing techniques for palmprint recognition rely on metrics, typically based on static functions, which evaluate the distance between a pair of features. In this paper, we propose a new technique for palmprint verification based on a dynamical system approach for principal palm lines matching. The proposed dynamic algorithm is...

Using dedicated EV charging areas to resolve grid violations caused by renewable energy generation

EV Charging is expected to be a significant load on the grid in the future. But they can also be a part of the solution to grid violations. As the amount of renewable energy generation increases, there is a large amount of power flowing in the reverse direction in the distribution network, which is undesirable. To reduce this, EVs can charge at...