Distributed model predictive control for unmanned aerial vehicles and vehicle platoon systems: a review

Abstract

This paper reviews the application of distributed model predictive control (DMPC) for autonomous intelligent systems (AIS) with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and vehicle platoon systems. DMPC is an optimal control method that formulates and solves optimization problems to adjust control strategies by predicting future states based on system models while managing constraints, and this technique has been applied to an increasing number of industrial areas. As the essential parts of AIS, UAVs and vehicle platoon systems have received extensive attention in the civil, industrial, and military fields. DMPC has the ability to quickly solve optimization problems in real-time while taking into account the prediction of the future state of the system, which fits in well with the ability of AIS to predict the environment when making decisions, so the application of DMPC in AIS has a natural advantage. This paper first introduces the basic principles of DMPC and the theoretical results in multi-agent systems (MASs). It then reviews the application of DMPC methods to UAVs and vehicle platoon systems. Finally, the challenges of the existing methods are summarized to offer insights to advance the future development of DMPC in practical applications.

Keywords

Distributed model predictive control / autonomous intelligent systems / multi-agent systems / unmanned aerial vehicles / vehicle platoon systems