Ren W., Cao Y. Distributed Coordination of Multi-agent Networks: Emergent Problems, Models, and Issues

Springer-Verlag, London, 2011, 307 pages, ISBN: 978-0-85729-168-4This book introduces emergent problems, models, and issues in distributed coordination of multi-agent networks. These problems, models, and issues represent some emergent research directions in the field of multi-agent systems. Emergent problems include collective periodic motion coordination, collective tracking with a dynamic leader, and containment control with multiple leaders. These problems extend the existing application domains of multi-agent networks. In particular, collective periodic motion coordination is appropriate for applications involving agent networks with repetitive movements, collective tracking guarantees tracking of a dynamic leader by multiple followers in the presence of reduced interaction and partial measurements, and containment control enables maneuvering of multiple followers by multiple leaders. Emergent models include networked Lagrangian systems and networked fractional-order systems.This book is divided into four parts. The first part introduces preliminaries (Chap. 1) and overviews recent research in distributed multi-agent coordination (Chap. 2). The second part introduces emergent problems in distributed multi-agent coordination, namely, collective periodic motion coordination (Chap. 3), collective tracking with a dynamic leader (Chap. 4), and containment control with multiple leaders (Chap. 5). The third part introduces emergent models in distributed multi-agent coordination, namely, networked Lagrangian systems (Chap. 6) and networked fractional-order systems (Chap. 7). The fourth part introduces emergent issues in distributed multi-agent coordination, namely, sampled-data setting (Chap. 8), optimality aspect (Chap. 9), and time delay (Chap. 10).