A design for dynamic self-organization in autonomous distributed operations
Name
52725261-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
11.75 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
c86ba4753c5f2c926ed6acf0591780ac
Author(s)
Craig, Mathias J. (Mathias Julien), 1978-
Advisor(s)
Feniosky Peña-Mora.
Date Issued
2003
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Considerable research has focused on the development of single, autonomous vehicles - vehicles that are able to sustain themselves and achieve specific objectives, but that generally lack the ability to autonomously coordinate with other vehicles. As this research evolves into operational systems, a key challenge is to develop autonomous vehicles that can self-organize in order to collectively address a set of goals that could not be achieved by any one individual. This thesis develops a framework for an operational system called Autonomous Distributed Operations (ADO) and presents a design for self-organization within this framework. Self-organization is shown as an integration of five activities that include goal evaluation and adoption, organizational strategizing, goal decomposition and aggregation, organizational design, and finally, organization adoption. A detailed implementation of the fourth component - organizational design - is presented. A four-phase systems engineering methodology is developed for designing organizations by sequentially optimizing along multiple dimensions, which include boundary, size, structure, and membership. Algorithms that yield optimal solutions for each phase of the design methodology exist, but are not suitable for realistic scenarios, which are often characterized by large state spaces. Therefore, the design methodology is implemented using heuristic algorithms that trade optimality for problem tractability. Results of the design process are presented using a variety of goals and scenarios as inputs. The scenarios are intended to reflect situations commonly encountered in Military Operations in Urban Terrain.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2003.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-141).
Subjects
Civil and Environmental Engineering.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
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