Distributed multi-agent systems - A literature survey and inquisitive discussion

The objective of this paper is twofold; to present findings from a recent literature survey on distributed decision and control, also known as consensus theory; and to postulate future research directions, given a new avenue of interest generated as a result of the investigation and a brief consensus simulation. While the literature survey focuses on this topic, the spectrum of challenges in the field is broad. Paper reviews range from detailed mathematics in consensus theory, to stabilization proofs for various communication protocols, potential field methodology for distributed control, to experimentation integrated with natural biological entities/agents. Finally, a discussion of recent research in Soft Control is presented with an expansion proposed for additional research on the use of Shrills (virtual agents) in a Cooperative Tracking (pinning control) application.