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arXiv · 2012.10153

A Distributed Simplex Architecture for Multi-Agent Systems

Usama Mehmood·Scott D. Stoller·Radu Grosu·Shouvik Roy·Amol Damare·Scott A. Smolka
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Abstract

We present Distributed Simplex Architecture (DSA), a new runtime assurance technique that provides safety guarantees for multi-agent systems (MASs). DSA is inspired by the Simplex control architecture of Sha et al., but with some significant differences. The traditional Simplex approach is limited to single-agent systems or a MAS with a centralized control scheme. DSA addresses this limitation by extending the scope of Simplex to include MASs under distributed control. In DSA, each agent has a local instance of traditional Simplex such that the preservation of safety in the local instances implies safety for the entire MAS. We provide a proof of safety for DSA, and present experimental results for several case studies, including flocking with collision avoidance, safe navigation of ground rovers through way-points, and the safe operation of a microgrid.

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Usama Mehmood, Scott D. Stoller, Radu Grosu, Shouvik Roy, Amol Damare, Scott A. Smolka. 2020-12-18. A Distributed Simplex Architecture for Multi-Agent Systems. https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.10153

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