Title: Hamiltonian surface shaping with information theory and exergy/entropy control for collective plume tracing

Authors: Rush D. Robinett III, David G. Wilson

Addresses: Energy, Resources and Systems Analysis Center, Sandia National Laboratories, P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque 87185-1108, New Mexico, USA. ' Energy, Resources and Systems Analysis Center, Sandia National Laboratories, P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque 87185-1108, New Mexico, USA

Abstract: The goal of this paper is to design and analyse distributed decentralised control laws for a team of robots performing collective plume tracing based on Hamiltonian surface shaping, information theory, and exergy/entropy control. The process begins with the design of a kinematic controller based on the application of static and dynamic stability concepts and exergy/entropy control. The process is completed with the design of a kinetic controller based on Hamiltonian surface shaping with physical and information exergies in the form of control potentials that determine the accessible phase space of the power flow controller. The resulting kinetic controller is evaluated using Fisher Information.

Keywords: Hamiltonian systems; Fisher information; collective systems; surface shaping; information theory; exergy control; entropy control; collective plume tracing; distributed control; decentralised control; robot collaboration; robot kinematics; robot control; kinetic control; robots.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSCC.2010.031162

International Journal of Systems, Control and Communications, 2010 Vol.2 No.1/2/3, pp.144 - 169

Published online: 23 Jan 2010 *

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