ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that the proposed decentralized algorithms perform as well as equivalent centralized algorithms, thus confirming the theoretical (algebraic) equivalence between the two types of algorithms explicit in the derivation of the decentralized algorithms from centralized ones. It demonstrates the benefits of scalable decentralized estimation and control. The criteria for evaluating performance are the same for both decentralized and centralized systems. System validation is carried out by comparing results from the decentralized algorithms to those obtained from conventional centralized systems. Validation is carried out by comparing estimation and control results from three types of systems: conventional centralized, fully connected decentralized and non-fully connected decentralized. The wheeled mobile robot (WMR) experimental results show that decentralized estimation and control can be implemented for a mobile vehicle using modular software and distributed hardware. The WMR is subjected to several variations of circular trajectory.
