Decision methods for non-tethered deep space interferometry

Lincoln, N. and Veres, S. (2011) Decision methods for non-tethered deep space interferometry. 18th World Congress of the International Federation of Automatic Control, Milano, Italy. 27 Aug - 01 Sep 2011.

Abstract

This paper examines decision methods applied to a distributed system that must operate collaboratively
to achieve a common objective and tolerate partial system failure, necessitating structural reorganization.
The problem addressed is controlled and cooperative action of multiple physical agents in a space
environment, tasked with forming an interferometer, maximizing the interferometer lifetime by staged
placement of resources and maintaining optimality in the presence of individual agent failures. Whilst
a seemingly niche application, the methods developed and analyzed are equally valid for any multiplephysical
agent system such as UAVs or AUVs. Centralized optimization methods will be applied to form
decisions in addition to a distributed contract-net like decision method, wherein an auction system is
adopted to form group decisions. These methods are investigated for the practicality of applying such
methods to an engineering system.

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