Zilong Cheng

Xiaoxue Zhang, Jun Ma, Zilong Cheng et al.

In this paper, a novel and innovative methodology for feasible motion planning in the multi-agent system is developed. On the basis of velocity obstacles characteristics, the chance constraints are formulated in the receding horizon control (RHC) problem, and geometric information of collision cones is used to generate the feasible regions of velocities for the host agent. By this approach, the motion planning is conducted at the velocity level instead of the position level. Thus, it guarantees a safer collision-free trajectory for the multi-agent system, especially for the systems with high-speed moving agents. Moreover, a probability threshold of potential collisions can be satisfied during the motion planning process. In order to validate the effectiveness of the methodology, different scenarios for multiple agents are investigated, and the simulation results clearly show that the proposed approach can effectively avoid potential collisions with a collision probability less than a specific threshold.

Wenxin Wang, Jun Ma, Zilong Cheng et al.

Mechatronic systems are commonly used in the industry, where fast and accurate motion performance is always required to guarantee manufacturing precision and efficiency. Nevertheless, the system model and parameters are difficult to be obtained accurately. Moreover, the high-order modes, strong coupling in the multi-axis systems, or unmodeled frictions will bring uncertain dynamics to the system. To overcome the above-mentioned issues and enhance the motion performance, this paper introduces a novel intelligent and totally model-free control method for mechatronic systems with unknown dynamics. In detail, a 2-degree-of-freedom (DOF) architecture is designed, which organically merges a generalized super-twisting algorithm with a unique iterative learning law. The controller solely utilizes the input-output data collected in iterations such that it works without any knowledge of the system parameters. The rigorous proof of convergence ability is given and a case study on flexture-joint dual-drive H-gantry stage is shown to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Zilong Cheng, Yulin Li, Kai Chen et al.

Iterative linear quadratic regulator (iLQR) has gained wide popularity in addressing trajectory optimization problems with nonlinear system models. However, as a model-based shooting method, it relies heavily on an accurate system model to update the optimal control actions and the trajectory determined with forward integration, thus becoming vulnerable to inevitable model inaccuracies. Recently, substantial research efforts in learning-based methods for optimal control problems have been progressing significantly in addressing unknown system models, particularly when the system has complex interactions with the environment. Yet a deep neural network is normally required to fit substantial scale of sampling data. In this work, we present Neural-iLQR, a learning-aided shooting method over the unconstrained control space, in which a neural network with a simple structure is used to represent the local system model. In this framework, the trajectory optimization task is achieved with simultaneous refinement of the optimal policy and the neural network iteratively, without relying on the prior knowledge of the system model. Through comprehensive evaluations on two illustrative control tasks, the proposed method is shown to outperform the conventional iLQR significantly in the presence of inaccuracies in system models.

Jun Ma, Zilong Cheng, Wenxin Wang et al.

In many specific scenarios, accurate and effective system identification is a commonly encountered challenge in the model predictive control (MPC) formulation. As a consequence, the overall system performance could be significantly weakened in outcome when the traditional MPC algorithm is adopted under those circumstances when such accuracy is lacking. This paper investigates a non-parametric closed-loop behavior learning method for multi-agent motion planning, which underpins a data-driven predictive control framework. Utilizing an innovative methodology with closed-loop input/output measurements of the unknown system, the behavior of the system is learned based on the collected dataset, and thus the constructed non-parametric predictive model can be used to determine the optimal control actions. This non-parametric predictive control framework alleviates the heavy computational burden commonly encountered in the optimization procedures typically in alternate methodologies requiring open-loop input/output measurement data collection and parametric system identification. The proposed data-driven approach is also shown to preserve good robustness properties. Finally, a multi-UAV system is used to demonstrate the highly effective outcome of this promising development.

Xiaoxue Zhang, Jun Ma, Zilong Cheng et al.

Distributed optimization is often widely attempted and innovated as an attractive and preferred methodology to solve large-scale problems effectively in a localized and coordinated manner. Thus, it is noteworthy that the methodology of distributed model predictive control (DMPC) has become a promising approach to achieve effective outcomes, e.g., in decision-making tasks for multi-agent systems. However, the typical deployment of such distributed MPC frameworks would lead to the involvement of nonlinear processes with a large number of nonconvex constraints. To address this important problem, the development and innovation of a hierarchical three-block alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) approach is presented in this work to solve this nonconvex cooperative DMPC problem in multi-agent systems. Here firstly, an additional slack variable is introduced to transform the original large-scale nonconvex optimization problem. Then, a hierarchical ADMM approach, which contains outer loop iteration by the augmented Lagrangian method (ALM) and inner loop iteration by three-block semi-proximal ADMM, is utilized to solve the resulting transformed nonconvex optimization problem. Additionally, it is analytically shown and established that the requisite desired stationary point exists for convergence in the algorithm. Finally, an approximate optimization stage with a barrier method is then applied to further significantly improve the computational efficiency, yielding the final improved hierarchical ADMM. The effectiveness of the proposed method in terms of attained performance and computational efficiency is demonstrated on a cooperative DMPC problem of decision-making process for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Jun Ma, Zilong Cheng, Xiaoxue Zhang et al.

In the context of autonomous driving, the iterative linear quadratic regulator (iLQR) is known to be an efficient approach to deal with the nonlinear vehicle model in motion planning problems. Particularly, the constrained iLQR algorithm has shown noteworthy advantageous outcomes of computation efficiency in achieving motion planning tasks under general constraints of different types. However, the constrained iLQR methodology requires a feasible trajectory at the first iteration as a prerequisite when the logarithmic barrier function is used. Also, the methodology leaves open the possibility for incorporation of fast, efficient, and effective optimization methods to further speed up the optimization process such that the requirements of real-time implementation can be successfully fulfilled. In this paper, a well-defined motion planning problem is formulated under nonlinear vehicle dynamics and various constraints, and an alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is utilized to determine the optimal control actions leveraging the iLQR. The approach is able to circumvent the feasibility requirement of the trajectory at the first iteration. An illustrative example of motion planning for autonomous vehicles is then investigated. A noteworthy achievement of high computation efficiency is attained with the proposed development; comparing with the constrained iLQR algorithm based on the logarithmic barrier function, our proposed method reduces the average computation time by 31.93%, 38.52%, and 44.57% in the three driving scenarios; compared with the optimization solver IPOPT, our proposed method reduces the average computation time by 46.02%, 53.26%, and 88.43% in the three driving scenarios. As a result, real-time computation and implementation can be realized through our proposed framework, and thus it provides additional safety to the on-road driving tasks.