The field of control and estimation is moving towards more distributed and decentralized approaches, with a focus on scalability, robustness, and fault tolerance. Researchers are exploring new methods for state estimation, control, and coordination in complex systems, such as swarms of UAVs, multi-agent systems, and autonomous underwater vehicles. These advancements have the potential to enable more efficient, reliable, and adaptable systems in various applications, including search and rescue, surveillance, and delivery. Noteworthy papers in this area include:
- Observer-Free Sliding Mode Control via Structured Decomposition, which proposes a novel control framework that eliminates the need for state observers and higher-order derivatives.
- DMPC-Swarm, a distributed model predictive control methodology that integrates an efficient communication protocol with a novel DMPC algorithm to guarantee collision avoidance in swarms of nano UAVs.