Decentralized control of multiple vehicles with limited communication bandwidth

A new algorithm is proposed for decentralized receding horizon control (DRHC) of multiple cooperative vehicles with limited communication bandwidth. The proposed algorithm uses a communication bandwidth allocation approach to optimize the teaming behavior. With the presented DRHC framework each vehicle uses a model of its neighboring vehicles to predict their future intention. The results from stability and performance analysis of such DRHC architecture suggest that the mismatch between actual and predicted plans of neighboring vehicles plays an important role in stability and performance of the team. Hence, the key idea with the proposed algorithm is to reduce the mismatch parameter by means of an efficient communication bandwidth allocation. Simulation results for the formation control of a team of rotorcrafts show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.