EE 5329 Distributed Decision & Control

SYLLABUS AND ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY

 

Updated:  Thursday, December 25, 2014 by F.L. Lewis

 

This is a UTA Web-Based Course.  The internet URL is http://www.uta.edu/utari/acs

Related webpages:

Systems and Controls Thrust Area

EE 5329 Homepage

 

UT Arlington Honor Code

I pledge, on my honor, to uphold UT Arlington’s tradition of academic integrity, a tradition that values hard work and honest effort in the pursuit of academic excellence.

I promise that I will only submit work that I personally create or contribute to group collaborations, and reference any work from other sources. I will follow the highest standards of integrity and uphold the spirit of the Honor Code.

 

 


Information:  EE 5329 Distributed decision & Control (3-0), 3 hours credit.  Topics include cooperative decision and control algorithms for networked teams of dynamical agents on communication graphs.  Included are local decision protocols that yield global team behavior, synchronization of dynamics including coupled oscillators and chaotic systems, analysis of stability and consensus convergence behaviors, and group decision and adversarial games on graphs. 

Applications are to animal behaviors such as swarms, flocks, and schools, and to engineering systems such as: dynamical systems on communications networks, networked teams of autonomous systems and vehicles, and formation flight.

Prerequisites:  none.  A knowledge of EE 5307 Linear Dynamical Systems is desirable.

 

Course Objectives:  To provide students with knowledge and abilities to analyze and design distributed decision and control systems.  To understand natural group synchronization in flocks, herds, schools, and physical and chemical systems. To understand the basic different types of graphs and the idea of phase transition, and their appearance in natural and manmade feedback systems. To lay a firm foundation in graph structure, Markov decision processes, and cooperative dynamical systems for future work.  To understand local control protocols for consensus and synchronization of cooperative dynamical systems.  To study formation control.  Study graph routing problems, mean hitting times, and resistance distance.  Study distributed decision, filtering, and estimation.  To train students in the use of MATLAB for system design and simulation for the workplace.

Topics Covered:  see separate schedule.

Class hours:  TuTh 330-450pm in NH 229

Instructor: F.L. Lewis, tel: 272-5972, office: ARRI room 215 (off campus), lewis@uta.edu
Office hours: before or after class

Teaching Assistant: Bahare Kiumarsi  kiumarsi@uta.edu
Office hours: see Blackboard posting

Texts:

1.      F.L. Lewis, H. Zhang, K. Hengster-Movric, A. Das, Cooperative Control of Multi-Agent Systems: Optimal and Adaptive Design Approaches, Springer-Verlag, 2014.

2.      R. Diestel, Graph Theory, Springer, 2006

Grading:

Homework--                                                 20%
Exam 1 (take Home) Thur. 26 Feb              25%
Exam 2 (Take home) Thur 16 April             25%
Final Project Report- due Thur 7 May         30%                 in IEEE Format

 


Student Learning Outcomes: 

1.  Understand natural group synchronization in flocks, herds, schools, and physical and chemical systems.

Assessment- homework design projects and examinations.

2.  Understand the basic different types of graphs, the idea of phase transition, and graph structural properties

Assessment- homework design projects and examinations.

3.  Ability to perform designs with various control tools using MATLAB computer simulation toolboxes.

Assessment- computer design and simulation projects assigned in homeworks.

4.  Understand consensus and synchronization analysis and design in man-made cooperative dynamical systems.

Assessment- design and simulation projects in homeworks, exams.

5.  Understand formations and their control, and potential field methods in distributed system coordination.

Assessment- design and simulation projects in homeworks, exams.

6.  Understand the context of control systems design including the history of control and ethical responsibilities of engineers.

Assessment- general performance in class and final project report.

7.  Learn to perform a survey and literature search and prepare a research paper with a unified presentation and exposition on a selected topic.

Assessment- Final Project Report.

 

Relation to Program Objectives.  This course is motivated by recent developments in the study and analysis of naturally occurring biological groups such as herds, flocks, schools, where each individual acts only under the influence of its neighbors, and yet complex synchronized motions of the group appear as emergent behaviors.  Teams in disaster relief, reconnaissance, and elsewhere are heterogeneous networks consisting of interacting humans, ground sensors, and unmanned airborne or ground vehicles.  By observing animal and other naturally occurring collective behaviors new algorithms for team coordination, decision, and consensus are being developed.  The goal is to develop local decision and control protocols for dynamical systems that do not rely on a central or global authority, yet result in provable achievement of global performance objectives.

 

Attendance is not mandatory. If you skip classes, you will find the homework and exams more difficult. Due to the pace of the lectures, copying someone else's notes may be an unreliable way of making up an absence. You are responsible for all material covered in class regardless of absences.

You will need to use MATLAB, including the neural network, controls, and DSP toolbox.  MATLAB is installed on the ACS network. Using the Student Edition of MATLAB you can install it on your own PC or MAC.

Check the grading of the exams thoroughly. You will have one week after the exam to see me for regrading. After this period, the grade is final.

Questions during class are strongly encouraged. The worst thing I can do is move too slowly and bore you. The next worst thing I can do is move too quickly and confuse you. If either of these occurs, it is your responsibility to speak up. You are paying for an education, and if the material is not presented clearly with confusion being eliminated shortly after it sets in you are not getting what you contracted for. On the other hand, if I never confuse you I am being unduly conservative and hence not conscientious. There is a very fine balance here, with you as student and me as instructor each having very definite responsibilities for keeping open all channels of communication. It is extremely difficult to teach a course without some sort of real-time feedback.

Some philosophy. I have an attitude toward learning which is based very heavily on independence and self-reliance; it can be summed up in the statement

"Knowledge cannot be given, but comes only with great personal sacrifice and effort."

It is my job to make knowledge available to you and show you one attitude toward it based on my experience in the area. It is your job to make it a part of yourself and so your own personal possession.

 

Drop Policy: Students may drop or swap (adding and dropping a class concurrently) classes through self-service in MyMav from the beginning of the registration period through the late registration period. After the late registration period, students must see their academic advisor to drop a class or withdraw. Undeclared students must see an advisor in the University Advising Center. Drops can continue through a point two-thirds of the way through the term or session. It is the student's responsibility to officially withdraw if they do not plan to attend after registering. Students will not be automatically dropped for non-attendance. Repayment of certain types of financial aid administered through the University may be required as the result of dropping classes or withdrawing. For more information, contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships (http://wweb.uta.edu/ses/fao).

 

Americans with Disabilities Act: The University of Texas at Arlington is on record as being committed to both the spirit and letter of all federal equal opportunity legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). All instructors at UT Arlington are required by law to provide "reasonable accommodations" to students with disabilities, so as not to discriminate on the basis of that disability. Any student requiring an accommodation for this course must provide the instructor with official documentation in the form of a letter certified by the staff in the Office for Students with Disabilities, University Hall 102. Only those students who have officially documented a need for an accommodation will have their request honored. Information regarding diagnostic criteria and policies for obtaining disability-based academic accommodations can be found at www.uta.edu/disability or by calling the Office for Students with Disabilities at (817) 272-3364

 

Academic Integrity: Students enrolled in this course are expected to adhere to the UT Arlington Honor Code:

 

I pledge, on my honor, to uphold UT Arlington’s tradition of academic integrity, a tradition that values hard work and honest effort in the pursuit of academic excellence.

I promise that I will submit only work that I personally create or contribute to group collaborations, and I will appropriately reference any work from other sources. I will follow the highest standards of integrity and uphold the spirit of the Honor Code.

 

UT Arlington faculty members may employ the Honor Code as they see fit in their courses, including (but not limited to) having students acknowledge the honor code as part of an examination or requiring students to incorporate the honor code into any work submitted. Per UT System Regents’ Rule 50101, §2.2, suspected violations of university’s standards for academic integrity (including the Honor Code) will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct. Violators will be disciplined in accordance with University policy, which may result in the student’s suspension or expulsion from the University.

 

Student Support Services: UT Arlington provides a variety of resources and programs designed to help students develop academic skills, deal with personal situations, and better understand concepts and information related to their courses. Resources include tutoring, major-based learning centers, developmental education, advising and mentoring, personal counseling, and federally funded programs. For individualized referrals, students may visit the reception desk at University College (Ransom Hall), call the Maverick Resource Hotline at 817-272-6107, send a message to resources@uta.edu, or view the information at www.uta.edu/resources.

 

Lab Safety Training is not required for this course.

 

Electronic Communication:  UT Arlington has adopted MavMail as its official means to communicate with students about important deadlines and events, as well as to transact university-related business regarding financial aid, tuition, grades, graduation, etc. All students are assigned a MavMail account and are responsible for checking the inbox regularly. There is no additional charge to students for using this account, which remains active even after graduation. Information about activating and using MavMail is available at http://www.uta.edu/oit/cs/email/mavmail.php.

 

Student Feedback Survey: At the end of each term, students enrolled in classes categorized as “lecture,” “seminar,” or “laboratory” shall be directed to complete an online Student Feedback Survey (SFS). Instructions on how to access the SFS for this course will be sent directly to each student through MavMail approximately 10 days before the end of the term. Each student’s feedback enters the SFS database anonymously and is aggregated with that of other students enrolled in the course. UT Arlington’s effort to solicit, gather, tabulate, and publish student feedback is required by state law; students are strongly urged to participate. For more information, visit http://www.uta.edu/sfs.

 

Final Review Week: A period of five class days prior to the first day of final examinations in the long sessions shall be designated as Final Review Week. The purpose of this week is to allow students sufficient time to prepare for final examinations. During this week, there shall be no scheduled activities such as required field trips or performances; and no instructor shall assign any themes, research problems or exercises of similar scope that have a completion date during or following this week unless specified in the class syllabus. During Final Review Week, an instructor shall not give any examinations constituting 10% or more of the final grade, except makeup tests and laboratory examinations. In addition, no instructor shall give any portion of the final examination during Final Review Week. During this week, classes are held as scheduled. In addition, instructors are not required to limit content to topics that have been previously covered; they may introduce new concepts as appropriate.

 

Emergency Exit Procedures: Should we experience an emergency event that requires us to vacate the building, students should exit the room and move toward the nearest exit, which is located at either and of the Nedderman Hall Atrium. When exiting the building during an emergency, one should never take an elevator but should use the stairwells. Faculty members and instructional staff will assist students in selecting the safest route for evacuation and will make arrangements to assist handicapped individuals.