Plenary talk notes on multi-agent motion coordination: Models and algorithms

Abstract

Motion coordination is an extraordinary phenomenon in biological systems such as schools of fish and serves as a remarkable tool for man-made groups of robotic vehicles and active sensors. Although each individual agent has no global knowledge about the group as a whole or about the surrounding environment, complex coordinated behaviors emerge from local interactions. From a scientific point of view, the study of motion coordination poses novel challenges for systems and control theory. A comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon requires the joint ambitious study of mobility, communication, computation, and sensing aspects.