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Ali Jadbabaie
University Talk
Distributed Coordination: From Flocking and Synchronization to Coverage in Sensor Networks
May 1, 2007 3:00
Abstract:
In this talk we provide a unified view of several distributed coordination and consensus algorithms which have appeared in various disciplines such as distributed systems, statistical physics, biology, computer graphics, robotics, and control theory over the past 2 decades. These algorithms have been proposed as a mechanism for demonstrating emergence of a global collective behavior (such as social aggregation in animals, schooling, flocking and synchronization in oscillator networks) using purely local interactions. Utilizing tools from spectral graph theory and control and dynamical systems theory, we provide an analysis of these algorithms. Using tools from algebraic topology, we extend our results from graphs to simplicial complexes to verify coverage in mobile sensor networks in a decentralized fashion. These simplicial complexes are induced by the local connectivity of agents in a network, and their homology groups allow us to infer the coverage properties of mobile sensort networks with time-varying interconnections. The enabling mathematical technique for our result is the theory of higher order Laplacian operators, which will be presented as a generalization of the graph Laplacian used in the first part of the talk for analysis of synchronization, agreement and consensus problems.
If you have questions, or would like to meet the speaker, please contact Ponda at 4-1994 or pondabarnes@tti-c.org. For information on future TTI-C talks or events, please go to the TTI-C Events page.