Iterative algorithms for distributed leader-follower model predictive control

Two distributed algorithms to estimate the optimal control input sequence that solves a finite horizon quadratic optimization are proposed. The first algorithm utilizes information from 2-hop neighbors, whereas the second only considers 1-hop neighbors. The estimates obtained from both algorithms converge asymptotically, under appropriate assumptions, for any initialization of the algorithm. For the 2-hop algorithm, we show that the converged estimate is the optimal solution to the original optimization problem, while for the 1-hop algorithm the result is generally a suboptimal solution. We evaluate the methods with simulations for a leader-follower model predictive control problem with unstable linear agents dynamics.