A Multi-Agent Approach to Safe Control of Energy Systems using Control Barrier Functions

This paper presents a novel multi-agent-based approach for safety-aware control of energy systems while accounting for sub-system coupling. The proposed method employs graph modeling to represent the dynamics of each sub-system and its control objectives in the energy domain. This unified representation in the energy domain allows for defining each sub-system with an independent control objective as an energy agent. The interactions among energy agents exhibit either collaboration on energy transfer or conflict over energy resource usage. For collaborative scenarios, a control barrier function (CBF)-based quadratic programming approach is utilized to achieve collective energy objectives while respecting individual safety constraints. On the other hand, decision-making in conflicting scenarios is resolved locally through a min-max problem with a CBF payoff function, ensuring the feasibility of a safe solution for all agents under worst-case conditions. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated through its application in an electro-thermal system comprising both collaborative and conflicting agents.