Cooperative semi-global robust output regulation for a class of nonlinear uncertain multi-agent systems

In this paper, we study the cooperative semi-global robust output regulation problem for a class of minimum phase nonlinear uncertain multi-agent systems. This problem is a generalization of the leader-following tracking problem in the sense that it further addresses such issues as disturbance rejection, robustness with respect to parameter uncertainties. To solve this problem, we first introduce a type of distributed internal model that converts the cooperative semi-global robust output regulation problem into a cooperative semi-global robust stabilization problem of the so-called augmented system. We then solve the semi-global stabilization problem via distributed dynamic output control law by utilizing and combining a block semi-global backstepping technique, a simultaneous high gain feedback control technique, and a distributed high gain observer technique.     

Cooperative output regulation of heterogeneous multi-agent systems based on passivity

This paper investigates the problem of cooperative output regulation of heterogeneous linear multi-agent systems. A passive framework is presented for the stabilisation analysis of cooperative output regulation, which can overcome the difficulty caused by the fact that the global dynamics of heterogeneous multi-agent systems depends on the global communication structure. An adaptive distributed observer is proposed to estimate the state of the exosystem, and the proposed distributed observer is independent of any global information of the communication graph. Based on passivity design and adaptive distributed observer, both a distributed state feedback and a distributed output feedback protocol are designed for output synchronisation of heterogeneous multi-agent systems. The gain matrices of the distributed protocols and observers are obtained by a Riccati equation design approach. Furthermore, sufficient local conditions for solving the problem of cooperative output regulation of heterogeneous multi-agent systems are presented. Finally, numerical simulation results are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed distributed control schemes.     

Cooperative global optimal preview tracking control of linear multi-agent systems: an internal model approach

This paper investigates the cooperative global optimal preview tracking problem of linear multi-agent systems under the assumption that the output of a leader is a previewable periodic signal and the topology graph contains a directed spanning tree. First, a type of distributed internal model is introduced, and the cooperative preview tracking problem is converted to a global optimal regulation problem of an augmented system. Second, an optimal controller, which can guarantee the asymptotic stability of the augmented system, is obtained by means of the standard linear quadratic optimal preview control theory. Third, on the basis of proving the existence conditions of the controller, sufficient conditions are given for the original problem to be solvable, meanwhile a cooperative global optimal controller with error integral and preview compensation is derived. Finally, the validity of theoretical results is demonstrated by a numerical simulation.     

Composite nonlinear feedback control for cooperative output regulation of linear multi-agent systems by a distributed dynamic compensator

This paper investigates the cooperative output regulation problem of linear multi-agent systems with a linear exogenous system (exo-system). The network topology is described by a directed graph which contains a directed spanning tree with the exo-system as the root. Aiming at improving the transient performance of the multi-agent systems, a dynamic control law is developed by the composite nonlinear feedback (CNF) control technique. In particular, a distributed dynamic compensator independent of the interaction on the compensator states of agents among the network, is adopted. The solvability condition for the cooperative output regulation problem is obtained using the small-gain theory, which will not be destroyed by adding the nonlinear feedback part of the CNF control law. It is also shown that in the case with the exo-system not diverging exponentially, the small-gain condition can be guaranteed using the low-gain design. Finally, simulation results illustrate that the proposed CNF control law improves the transient performance for the cooperative output regulation of linear multi-agent systems.     

Global Robust Output Regulation for a Class of Switched Nonlinear Systems with Nonlinear Exosystems

The problem of global robust output regulation for a class of switched nonlinear systems with nonlinear exosystems is investigated in this paper where not all subsystems are stabilizable. First, as an extension of the concept of non‐switched internal model, this paper defines a switched internal model, which together with the plant is called the switched augmented system. Also, we show that the problem of output regulation for the switched nonlinear system can be converted into a global robust regulation problem of the switched augmented system. Second, based on the average dwell time method, the global robust regulation problem under a class of switching signals with average dwell time is solved, which leads to the solution of the problem of global robust output regulation. Finally, an example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design approach.     

Semi‐Global Robust Output Regulation for A Class of Singular Nonlinear Systems with Unknown Algebraic Equations

This paper considers semi‐global robust output regulation problem for a class of singular nonlinear systems whose algebraic equations are not precisely known. Since the algebraic equations are not known, the output regulation problem of singular nonlinear systems cannot be solved by directly reducing the singular nonlinear system into a normal nonlinear system. Based on internal model principle, we convert the robust output regulation problem of singular nonlinear systems into a robust stabilization problem of an augmented singular nonlinear system. The augmented singular nonlinear system is also with unknown algebraic equations. However, without transforming the singular nonlinear system into a normal nonlinear system, it is shown that the augmented singular nonlinear system can be semi‐globally stabilized by a high gain output feedback control law under some reasonable assumptions. Moreover, the semi‐global stabilization control law of the augmented singular nonlinear systems also solves the semi‐global robust output regulation problem of the original singular nonlinear system.     

Cooperative robust output regulation problem for discrete‐time linear time‐delay multi‐agent systems

In this paper, we study the cooperative robust output regulation problem for discrete‐time linear multi‐agent systems with both communication and input delays by a distributed internal model approach. We first introduce the distributed internal model for discrete‐time multi‐agent systems with both communication and input delays. Then, we define the so‐called auxiliary system and auxiliary augmented system. Finally, we solve our problem by showing, under some standard assumptions, that if a distributed state feedback control or a distributed output feedback control solves the robust output regulation problem of the auxiliary system, then the same control law solves the cooperative robust output regulation problem of the original multi‐agent systems.     

Containment control of a class of heterogeneous nonlinear multi-agent systems

This paper studies the containment control of a class of heterogeneous nonlinear multi-agent systems under general directed graph. Every follower agent is a nonlinear system in the output feedback form with the same relative degree. The authors’ goal is to design a distributed dynamic controller such that the outputs of followers enter the convex hull spanned by the outputs of leaders. To this end, the containment problem is converted into a cooperative output regulation problem, a distributed adaptive recursive procedure and the internal model are employed to design the distributed controller.     

Cooperative output regulation with application to multi-agent consensus under switching network

In this paper, we consider the cooperative output regulation of linear multi-agent systems under switching network. The problem can be viewed as a generalization of the leader-following consensus problem of multi-agent systems. Due to the limited information exchanges of different subsystems, the problem cannot be solved by the decentralized approach and is not allowed to be solved by the centralized control. By devising a distributed observer network, we can solve the problem by both dynamic state feedback control and dynamic measurement output feedback control. As an application of our main result, we show that a special case of our results leads to the solution of the leader-following consensus problem of linear multi-agent systems.     

Semi-global robust output regulation for a class of singular nonlinear systems via nonlinear internal model

Most of existing results on robust output regulation problem of singular nonlinear systems are limited to local solutions. In this paper, the semi-global robust output regulation problem for a class of singular nonlinear systems is investigated by using a nonlinear internal model. Attaching a nonlinear internal model to the singular nonlinear system yields an augmented singular nonlinear system whose semi-global robust stabilisation solution leads to the solution of the semi-global robust output regulation problem of the original singular nonlinear system. The solvability conditions of the semi-global output regulation problem are established by addressing the solvability of the robust stabilisation problem of augmented singular nonlinear system. Finally, a numerical simulation example is used to illustrate the design of the semi-global regulator for the singular nonlinear systems.     

拓扑切换下IT2 T-S模糊非线性多智能体系统全局逆最优控制

针对连续非线性多智能体系统的全局最优协同控制问题,本文提出了模糊输出反馈和逆最优方法的分布式一致性最优控制律和相应的控制策略.首先,通过一种区间2型T-S (interval type 2 Takagi-Sugeno IT2 T-S)模糊模型将非线性系统等价转化为线性系统.其次,基于逆最优方法设计了全局最优协同控制律和相应的模糊输出反馈控制策略,智能体间仅仅通过局部通信,即可实现拓扑切换下非线性多智能体系统的二次性能全局最优控制,且系统的收敛速度大大提高.基于局部稳定性理论给出了全局逆最优控制的充要条件.最后,通过MATLAB算例验证所提方法的正确性和可行性.     

Cooperative robust output regulation of a class of heterogeneous linear uncertain multi‐agent systems

The cooperative output regulation of a linear multi‐agent system can be viewed as a generalization of the leader‐following consensus problem and was studied recently for the case where the system uncertain parameters vary in a sufficiently small neighborhood of their nominal value. This case was handled by the internal model design which converts the problem into a simultaneous eigenvalue placement problem of an augmented multi‐agent system. In this paper, we further consider the cooperative robust output regulation problem for a class of minimum phase linear multi‐agent systems in the sense that the controller allows the system uncertain parameters to vary in an arbitrarily prescribed compact subset. For this purpose, we introduce a new type of internal model that allows the cooperative robust output regulation problem of the given plant to be converted into a robust stabilization problem of an augmented multi‐agent system. We then solve our problem by combining a simultaneous high‐gain state feedback control technique and a distributed high‐gain observer technique. A special case of our result leads to the solution of the leader‐following robust consensus problem for a class of uncertain multi‐agent systems. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Speed tracking control of PM synchronous motor by internal model design

In this article, we consider a speed tracking and load torque disturbance rejection problem of PM synchronous motor by internal model design. The problem is first formulated as a global robust output regulation problem of a special class of multivariable systems. Then the output regulation problem is further converted into a global stabilisation problem of an augmented system composed of the original plant and an internal model. As the augmented system does not take any known special form, we have developed a specific tool to deal with the stabilisation problem. In particular, a generalised changing supply function technique applicable to non-input-to-state stable (ISS) systems is developed. This technique, in conjunction with a particular nonlinear internal model, leads to an effective solution to the problem.     

Robust cooperative output regulation under exosystem detectability constraint

ABSTRACT

This paper revisits the robust cooperative output regulation problem for a class of linear uncertain multi-agent systems. In particular, it is assumed here that the agents in the system can only access incomplete measurements of the exosystem, and the local regulated error signals are not available to the agents to be used in control. Under these assumptions, the agents in the system cannot independently reconstruct the exosystem dynamics, or rely on their own local measurements to achieve the objectives of the output regulation problem. The solution to the regulation problem proposed in this paper is a distributed dynamic control law that reconstructs the exosystem states, given a mild collective detectability assumption. Furthermore, the proposed distributed control law incorporates an internal model of the exosystem to allow for uncertain dynamics of the multi-agent system. A numerical example is offered to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control solution.     

New results on robust output regulation of nonlinear systems with a nonlinear exosystem

The global robust output regulation problem for nonlinear plants subject to nonlinear exosystems has been a challenging problem and has not been well addressed. The main difficulty lies in finding a suitable internal model. The existing internal model for handling the nonlinear exosystem is not zero input globally asymptotically stable, and can only guarantee a local solution for the output regulation problem. In this paper, we first propose a new class of internal models, which is guaranteed to exist under the generalized immersion condition. An advantage of this internal model is that it is zero input globally asymptotically stable. This fact will greatly facilitate the global stabilization of the augmented system associated with the given plant and the internal model. Then we will further utilize this class of internal models to solve the global robust output regulation problem for output feedback systems with a nonlinear exosystem. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Robust cooperative control for multi-agent systems via distributed output regulation

Robust cooperative control for multi-agent systems is considered in this paper, under the framework of the distributed output regulation problem. With some fundamental assumptions, two necessary and sufficient conditions are given for the distributed output regulation problem to be solvable. The algorithm of designing the robust distributed control law is provided, with the help of internal models. It is shown that this robust controller is effective in a neighborhood of the nominal system, which is tolerant of system uncertainties.     

An output-based distributed observer and its application to the cooperative linear output regulation problem

In this paper, we first extend an existing stability result for a class of linear switched systems. This extended result will relax the existence conditions of the output-based distributed observer for a leader system subject to jointly connected switching communication networks in the literature. As an application of this output-based distributed observer, we solve the cooperative output regulation problem of a linear multi-agent system subject to jointly connected switching communication networks by composing a purely decentralized control law and the output-based distributed observer based on the certainty equivalence principle.     

基于自触发的异构多智能体协同输出调节

本文针对线性异构多智能体系统,基于自适应自触发条件,分别设计了状态和输出反馈协同控制器.其中自适应控制策略可以避免使用多智能体系统的全局信息,从而实现分布式控制;自触发控制不仅可以避免对触发条件进行连续监测,还可以有效地降低网络的通信负载和控制器的更新次数,且不存在芝诺现象.最后通过4个跟随智能体和一个领导智能体进行了协同输出直角编队仿真实验,实现了多智能体系统对外部系统的渐近跟踪和干扰抑制,验证了结果的有效性.     

Cooperative optimal preview tracking control of continuous-time multi-agent systems

This paper presents the cooperative preview control method for continuous-time multi-agent systems with a time-invariant directed communication topology. First, the cooperative tracking preview control problem is transformed into the optimal regulation problem of an augmented system. Next, by applying the results of the standard optimal preview control of continuous-time linear systems, a controller of the augmented system is obtained. Furthermore, the stabilisability and detectability of the augmented system are studied under the fixed digraph and the prescribed leader. Then, we derive the controller of multi-agent systems with error integral and preview action that can guarantee the achievement of cooperative optimal preview tracking. Finally, the effectiveness of the controller is shown by numerical simulations.     

Output regulation for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with nonlinear exosystems and its application

In this paper, we consider the global robust output regulation problem for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with nonlinear exosystems. By employing the internal model approach, we show that this problem boils down to a global robust stabilization problem of a time-varying nonlinear system in lower triangular form, the solution of which will lead to the solution of the global robust output regulation problem. An example shows the effectiveness of the proposed approach.