Robust Mission Design Through Evidence Theory and Multi-Agent Collaborative Search

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel multi-agent optimization approach using evidence theory to design space missions reliably under uncertain parameters, balancing mission success and constraint satisfaction.

Contribution

It introduces a new multi-agent collaborative search algorithm combined with evidence theory for reliable mission design under uncertainty.

Findings

Successfully applied to two mission analysis problems

Achieved highly reliable solutions balancing success and constraints

Demonstrated robustness of the proposed method

Abstract

In this paper, the preliminary design of a space mission is approached introducing uncertainties on the design parameters and formulating the resulting reliable design problem as a multiobjective optimization problem. Uncertainties are modelled through evidence theory and the belief, or credibility, in the successful achievement of mission goals is maximised along with the reliability of constraint satisfaction. The multiobjective optimisation problem is solved through a novel algorithm based on the collaboration of a population of agents in search for the set of highly reliable solutions. Two typical problems in mission analysis are used to illustrate the proposed methodology.