Applications of Multi Agent Systems in Control Engineering: A State-of-the-Art Survey
Deep Shekhar Acharya, Nutan Lata Nath · 2015
Recent years have witnessed an increased interest in the field of distributed control. Multi Agent Systems are one of the strategies of implementing distributed control and have found application in several areas. This work attempts to present a comprehensive survey of the various applications of Multi Agent Systems in the field of control engineering. Being a new technology, MAS faces a lot of challenges. Extensive research is under process on modelling, architecture and stability of multi agent systems. The design methodologies to be adopted and implementation approaches are also one of the several crucial issues which need to be resolved. Present ongoing research also focuses on developing platforms for easier implementation of agent based model or strategy. Design of proper communication protocols, to be followed by agents, is also under development. This paper attempts to present a comprehensive survey of the various applications, in the field of control engineering, where MAS is being implemented. At the outset, basic definitions and characteristics of agents and multi agent systems are presented, followed by detailed survey of the different control engineering applications.