Wang, Ziyi (University of Waterloo), Guglielmi, Roberto (University of Waterloo), Notomista, Gennaro (University of Waterloo)

Decentralized Control of Robotic Swarm Density Via PDE-Constrained Optimization

Scheduled for presentation during the Regular Session "Modelling and simulation" (WeCB), Wednesday, June 11, 2025, 18:10−18:30,

33rd Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation, June 10-13, 2025, Tangier, Morocco

This information is tentative and subject to change. Compiled on May 9, 2025

Abstract

In this paper we present a decentralized control framework for swarm density regulation using Partial Differential Equation (PDE)-constrained optimization, implemented with a Model Predictive Control (MPC) paradigm. We propose a novel formulation which allows each agent in the swarm to optimize its control input using locally available information only. Extensive numerical experiments show the effectiveness of the developed decentralized control framework and compare its performance to centralized control strategies. Real robot experiments validate the proposed algorithm.