In multi-agent systems reaching consensus has been a long-standing problem. A considerable amount of research has been focused on how event-triggered consensus can be used to limit the energy consumption of the communication system while still ensuring convergence to the neighbourhood of a point or a formation. These algorithms rely on having knowledge of the global state information of each agent in the network. Given this information, it is possible to consider using distributed algorithms from the field of Computer Science to achieve the same.

This thesis presents a study on average consensus algorithms for single-integrator multi-agent systems. The focus is on comparing the time required to reach convergence and the energy required by the communication system. To perform this study, three methods are used to compare the algorithms. The first method involves deriving mathematical bounds on the convergence time and the number of transmissions. The second involves a simple simulation to verify the mathematical bounds. Finally, the algorithms are compared in a practical application where robots are subjected to noisy measurements and need to assemble in a formation.

The results of the comparisons show that distributed algorithms are capable of fast convergence and require less energy for communication. Therefore, it is worth considering the use of distributed algorithms when agents have enough memory to temporarily store the global state of all agents in the network. There might still be situations in which the ETC algorithm converges slightly faster but this benefit is overshadowed by the increase in energy consumption.

Current subsea LiDAR implementations are inherently depth limited, and make LiDAR applications in the deep-sea costly. To this end, the SLiDAR project aims to develop a pressure tolerant LiDAR system for use at any ocean depth. This thesis elaborates the design and implementation of the laser pulse transmission of the LiDAR and the circuit which will supply the bias voltage for the Avalanche photodiode (APD) from the receiving stage. Although testing of the transmission stage showed the laser can be pulsed, there can be more optimizations done in the future as better laser system can be designed to achieve higher optical output power and an even smaller pulse width. Furthermore,
future optimizations should be considered for the APD bias circuit. Unfortunately, the LiDAR system as a whole was not tested in practise, due to time limitations. Hence, this thesis aims to provide a basis for future development, testing and verification of both the LiDAR system and its laser pulse transmission stage.