Introducation:
The rapid advancement of robotic systems in complex and dynamic environments has highlighted the critical need for efficient distributed optimization and control strategies. Traditional centralized approaches often struggle with scalability, real-time adaptability, and robustness in large-scale or networked robotic applications, such as multi-robot coordination, swarm robotics, and autonomous fleet management. Distributed optimization and control methods offer a promising alternative by enabling localized decision-making, reducing communication overhead, and enhancing system resilience against failures or uncertainties.
This Special Session aims to bring together researchers and practitioners to explore cutting-edge developments in distributed optimization and control for robotic systems. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: distributed algorithms for cooperative control, consensus-based optimization, game-theoretic approaches, event-triggered communication strategies, and applications in industrial automation, smart cities, and environmental monitoring. By fostering discussions on theoretical foundations, computational efficiency, and real-world implementations, this session will address key challenges such as scalability, convergence guarantees, and robustness in uncertain or adversarial environments.
The session will provide a platform for sharing innovative solutions that bridge the gap between theory and practice, ultimately advancing the state-of-the-art in distributed robotic systems. We invite contributions that demonstrate novel methodologies, rigorous analysis, or impactful applications, with the goal of inspiring cross-disciplinary collaborations and accelerating progress in this critical field.
Organizer(s):
Wentao Wu, Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Wentao Wu received the Ph.D. degree in electronic information from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, in 2025. From 2023 to 2024, He was a Visiting Research Scholar at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, BC, Canada. Currently, he is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
His current research interests include formation control, safety-critical control, constrained control, and game theory with applications to robot systems. Dr. Wu was a recipient of the inaugural special program for doctoral students of young elite scientist sponsorship program by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST). He was selected as the Best Student Paper Nomination Award of the 7th CCSICC Conference. He serves as a reviewer of many international journals.
Yibo Zhang, Department of Automation, Shanghai University, China
Zhang Yibo, an associate professor at Shanghai University, holds a PhD degree. From August 2021 to November 2024, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Since November 2024, he has been working at the School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University. He is mainly engaged in research on the control of intelligent unmanned systems, multi-agent systems, embodied intelligence, etc. He has published and been accepted 35 papers indexed by SCI/EI in international journals and conferences.
Peng Cheng, School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Anhui University, China
Peng Cheng received the Ph.D. degree in control science and engineering with the Department of Automation, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, in 2025. From March 2024 to November 2024, He was a visiting research scholar with the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow with the School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Anhui University, Hefei, China. His current research interests include multiagent systems, stochastic systems, 2-D systems, and networked control systems. Dr. Cheng was selected for the inaugural special program for doctoral students under the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) Young Talent Support Project in 2025, and was a recipient of the Excellent Master's Degree Thesis Award of Chinese Association of Automation (CAA) in 2022. He is a very active reviewer of many international journals.
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