FICO: Finite-Horizon Closed-Loop Factorization for Unified Multi-Agent Path Finding

Abstract: Multi-Agent Path Finding is a fundamental problem in robotics and AI, yet most existing formulations treat planning and execution separately and address variants of the problem in an ad hoc manner. This paper presents a system-level framework for MAPF that integrates planning and execution, generalizes across variants, and explicitly models uncertainties. At its core is the MAPF system, a formal model that casts MAPF as a control design problem encompassing classical and uncertainty-aware formulations. To solve it, we introduce Finite-Horizon Closed-Loop Factorization (FICO), a factorization-based algorithm inspired by receding-horizon control that exploits compositional structure for efficient closed-loop operation. FICO enables real-time responses -- commencing execution within milliseconds -- while scaling to thousands of agents and adapting seamlessly to execution-time uncertainties. Extensive case studies demonstrate that it reduces computation time by up to two orders of magnitude compared with open-loop baselines, while delivering significantly higher throughput under stochastic delays and agent arrivals. These results establish a principled foundation for analyzing and advancing MAPF through system-level modeling, factorization, and closed-loop design.