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SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization
Special issue
Control and Optimization in Cooperative Networks
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The purpose of this special issue is to bring
together contributions at the intersection of the fields of systems
and control theory and the emerging application domain of cooperative
networks. Multi-agent networks can be mathematically modeled as a set
of complex dynamical systems interacting with each other. The motion
coordination of individual agents, for instance, is closely related to
classic topics in dynamics such as the synchronization phenomenon in
coupled nonlinear oscillators and the stability of mechanical systems
subject to gyroscopic forces. Cooperative networks exhibit some
features that make their analysis fascinating: (i) many times their
dynamics takes the form of discontinuous vector fields and
non-deterministic discrete-time systems; (ii) other times they can be
studied using the theories of ergodic, circulant and Toeplitz
matrices; (iii) often they optimize some aggregate objective function
which is not differentiable, but Lipschitz; (iv) the couplings between
the various dynamical systems change as the topology of the mobile
network changes; and (v) the structure of the interconnection between
the dynamical systems can be characterized with graph theoretical and
computational geometric tools. These and other complex features make
cooperative networks very exciting from a dynamical systems and
control perspective. Specific topics addressed in the issue include
(and are not limited to):
- motion coordination for pattern formation, deployment, self
organization and aggregation
- distributed control algorithms for consensus, estimation, and
target tracking
- formal models and complexity analysis of cooperative
algorithms
- scalability, robustness and distributed control
- wireless networking of sensors, actuators, and controllers
- operation of cooperative networks under resource constraints,
communication failures, and uncertainty
The call for papers, together with specific
instructions for submission, can be found at http://www.siam.org/journals/sicon.php.
This is the first special issue of the SIAM Journal on Control and
Optimization. The guest editors are Francesco Bullo, Jorge
Cortés and Benedetto Piccoli. The submission deadline is
November 1, 2006.