Decentralized Cooperative Control of Autonomous Surface Vehicles

Many pressing issues associated with control of cooperative intelligent systems involve challenges that arise from the difficulty of coordinating multiple task objectives in highly dynamic, unstructured environments. This chapter presents a multi-objective cooperative control methodology for a team of autonomous surface vehicles deployed with the purpose of protecting a waterway against hostile intruders. The methodology captures the intent of a human commander by breaking down high-level mission objectives into specific task assignments for a fleet of autonomous boats with a suite of on-board sensors, limited processing units, and short-range communication capabilities. The fundamental technologies supporting our control method have already been field-tested on a team of autonomous aerial vehicles, and the aim of this work is to extend the previously developed theories to multiple problem domains using heterogeneous vehicle platforms.