Formal verification of decentralized coordination in autonomous multi-agent aerospace systems
Authors
Paul, Saswata
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1792-9858
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Other Contributors
Patterson, Stacy
Bringsjord, Selmer
Muñoz, César
Varela, Carlos A.
Bringsjord, Selmer
Muñoz, César
Varela, Carlos A.
Issue Date
2022-05
Keywords
Computer science
Degree
PhD
Terms of Use
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
This electronic version is a licensed copy owned by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, NY. Copyright of original work retained by author.
This electronic version is a licensed copy owned by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, NY. Copyright of original work retained by author.
Full Citation
Abstract
As autonomous vehicular technologies such as self-driving cars and uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) evolve to become more accessible and cost-efficient, autonomous multi-agentsystems, that comprise of such entities, will become ubiquitous in the near future. The close
operational proximity between such autonomous agents will warrant the need for multi-agent
coordination to ensure safe operations. In this thesis, we adopt a formal methods-based approach to investigate multi-agent coordination for safety-critical autonomous multi-agent
systems. We explore algorithms that can be used for decentralized multi-agent coordination among autonomous mobile agents by communicating over asynchronous vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) networks that can be prone to agent failures. In particular, we study two
types of distributed algorithms that are useful for decentralized coordination — consensus, which can be used by autonomous agents to agree on a set of compatible operations;
and knowledge propagation, which can be used to ensure sufficient situational awareness
in autonomous multi-agent systems. We develop the first machine-checked proof of eventual progress for the Synod consensus algorithm, that does not assume a unique leader. To
consider agent failures while reasoning about progress, we introduce a novel Failure-Aware
Actor Model (FAM). We then propose a formally verified Two-Phase Acknowledge Protocol (TAP) for knowledge propagation that can establish a safe state of knowledge suitable for
autonomous vehicular operations. The non-deterministic and dynamic operating conditions
of distributed algorithms deployed over asynchronous V2V networks make it challenging to
provide appropriate formal guarantees for the algorithms. To address this, we introduce probabilistic correctness properties that can be developed by stochastically modeling the systems.
We present a formal proof library that can be used for reasoning about probabilistic properties of distributed algorithms deployed over V2V networks. We also propose a Dynamic
Data-Driven Applications Systems (DDDAS)-based approach for the runtime verification of
distributed algorithms. This approach uses parameterized proofs, which can be instantiated
at runtime, and progress envelopes, which can divide the operational state space into distinct regions where a proof of progress may or may not hold. To motivate our verification
of decentralized coordination, we introduce an autonomous air traffic management (ATM)
technique for multi-aircraft systems called Decentralized Admission Control (DAC).
Description
May 2022
School of Science
School of Science
Department
Dept. of Computer Science
Publisher
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
Relationships
Rensselaer Theses and Dissertations Online Collection
Access
CC BY-NC-ND. Users may download and share copies with attribution in accordance with a Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 license. No commercial use or derivatives
are permitted without the explicit approval of the author.