In this book, we present our systematic investigations into consensus in
multi-agent systems. We show the design and analysis of various types of
consensus protocols from a multi-agent perspective with a focus on
min-consensus and its variants. We also discuss second-order and
high-order min-consensus. A very interesting topic regarding the link
between consensus and path planning is also included. We show that a
biased min-consensus protocol can lead to the path planning phenomenon,
which means that the complexity of shortest path planning can emerge
from a perturbed version of min-consensus protocol, which as a case
study may encourage researchers in the field of distributed control to
rethink the nature of complexity and the distance between control and
intelligence. We also illustrate the design and analysis of consensus
protocols for nonlinear multi-agent systems derived from an optimal
control formulation, which do not require solving a
Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation.
The book was written in a self-contained format. For each consensus
protocol, the performance is verified through simulative examples and
analyzed via mathematical derivations, using tools like graph theory and
modern control theory. The book's goal is to provide not only
theoretical contributions but also explore underlying intuitions from a
methodological perspective.
