Controllability and observability of multi-agent systems with heterogeneous and switching topologies

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on controllability and observability of multi-agent systems with heterogeneous and switching topologies, where the first- and the second-order information interaction topologies are different and switching. First, based on the controllable state set, a controllability criterion is obtained in terms of the controllability matrix corresponding to the switching sequence. Next, by virtue of the subspace sequence, two necessary and sufficient algebraic conditions are established for controllability in terms of the system matrices corresponding to all the possible topologies. Furthermore, controllability is considered from the graphic perspective. It is proved that the system is controllable if the union graph of all the possible topologies is controllable. With respect to observability, two sufficient and necessary conditions are derived by taking advantage of the system matrices and the corresponding invariant subspace, respectively. Finally, some simulation examples are worked out to illustrate the theoretical results.     

Consensus tracking for second-order nonlinear multi-agent systems with switching topologies and a time-varying reference state

In this study, the authors consider the consensus tracking problem for second-order nonlinear multi-agent systems with switching topologies and a time-varying reference state. The dynamics of each agent consists of nonlinear inherent dynamics. In order to reach consensus tracking, a class of nonsmooth control protocols is proposed which only depends on the agent's own information and its neighbours’ information. With the aid of algebraic graph theory, matrix theory, and Lyapunov theory, some corresponding sufficient conditions guaranteeing consensus tracking under the proposed control protocols are derived. Finally, the numerical simulations are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the developed theoretical results.     

Group consensus control for heterogeneous multi-agent systems with fixed and switching topologies

In this paper, the group consensus problems of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with fixed and switching topologies are investigated. First, a class of distributed group consensus protocol is proposed for achieving the group consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems by using the neighbours’ information. Then, some corresponding sufficient conditions are obtained to guarantee the achievement of group consensus. Rigorous proofs are given by using graph theory, matrix theory and Lyapunov theory. Finally, numerical simulations are also given to verify the theoretical analysis.     

Controllability of multi-agent systems with periodically switching topologies and switching leaders

This paper considers controllability of multi-agent systems with periodically switching topologies and switching leaders. The concept of m-periodic controllability is proposed, and a criterion for m-periodic controllability is established. The effect of the duration of subsystems on controllability is analysed by utilising a property of analytic functions. In addition, the influence of switching periods on controllability is investigated, and an algorithm is proposed to search for the fewest periods to ensure controllability. A necessary condition for m-periodic controllability is obtained from the perspective of eigenvectors of the subsystems’ Laplacian matrices. For a system with switching leaders, it is proved that switching-leader controllability is equivalent to multiple-leader controllability. Furthermore, both the switching order and the tenure of agents being leaders have no effect on the controllability. Some examples are provided to illustrate the theoretical results.     

Distributed consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with fixed and switching topologies

In this article, we study distributed consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with fixed and switching topologies. The analysis is based on graph theory and nonnegative matrix theory. We propose two kinds of consensus protocols based on the consensus protocol of first-order and second-order multi-agent systems. Some necessary and sufficient conditions that the heterogeneous multi-agent system solves the consensus problems under different consensus protocols are presented with fixed topology. We also give some sufficient conditions for consensus of the heterogeneous multi-agent system with switching topology. Simulation examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.     

Mean square leader-following consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with Markovian switching topologies and communication delays

This article considers the mean square leader-following output consensus problem of heterogeneous multi-agent systems under randomly switching topologies and time-varying communication delays. By modeling the switching topologies as a time-homogeneous Markov process and taking the communication delays into consideration, a distributed observer is proposed to estimate the state of the leader. A novel distributed output feedback controller is then designed. By constructing a novel switching Lyapunov functional, an easily-verifiable sufficient condition to achieve the mean square leader-following output consensus is given. Finally, two simulation examples are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.     

切换拓扑下多自主体系统的事件触发一致性控制

本文针对一阶非线性多自主体系统,考察了切换拓扑下的事件触发一致性控制问题.当切换拓扑子图的并图包含有向生成树时,基于一阶保持器提出了一种分布式事件触发一致性算法,用以降低网络的通信负载.运用迭代法和不等式法,得到了多自主体系统达到有界一致性的充分条件.此外,证明了所提事件触发机制不存在Zeno现象,并得到了触发间隔的正下界.最后,给出仿真实例,验证了所提事件触发一致性算法和理论分析结果的有效性.     

时延异构多自主体系统的群一致性分析

针对由一阶自主体和二阶自主体构成的异构多自主体系统的静态群一致性问题,分别提出了在固定连接拓扑和切换连接拓扑结构下的静态群一致性算法。通过构造Lyapunov-Krasovskii函数,得到了系统在具有相同时变通信时延的群一致性算法作用下渐近收敛群一致的充分条件,并以线性矩阵不等式表示。最后,仿真结果表明,所提算法在满足一定条件下能使时延异构多自主体系统渐近收敛群一致。     

具有通信时延的离散时间二阶多个体网络的一致性问题

针对具有通信时延的离散时间二阶多个体系统的一致性问题,采用了具有静态领导者的一致性算法.根据广义Nyquist判据和Gerschgorin圆盘定理,得到了系统渐近收敛到领导者状态的充分条件.在个体与领导者构成的连接拓扑满足一定连通性的前提下,该充分条件是分散形式的,与控制参数、邻居个体之间的连接权值相关,而与通信时延大小无关.仿真结果证明了结论的正确性.     

Consensus seeking of high-order dynamic multi-agent systems with fixed and switching topologies

This article studies a consensus problem for a group of high-order dynamic agents with fixed and switching topologies. Two linear consensus protocols, which only depend on the agent's own information and its neighbours' partial information, are proposed, respectively, for the group with and without communication time-delays. For the case of fixed topology and zero communication time-delay, a necessary and sufficient condition for the consensus is established. The parameter design of the protocol is also discussed. Under switching topology, the consensus is investigated for two cases: the case of zero communication time-delay and the case of nonuniform communication time-delays. For each case, a sufficient condition for the consensus is provided. Moreover, for a group of double/triple-integrator agents with fixed topology and uniform constant time-delay, some necessary and sufficient conditions for the consensus are given. Finally, numerical simulations are worked out to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.     

Passivity-based consensus for linear multi-agent systems under switching topologies

This paper studies the passivity-based consensus analysis and synthesis problems for a class of stochastic multi-agent systems with switching topologies. Based on Lyapunov methods, stochastic theory, and graph theory, new different storage Lyapunov functions are proposed to derive sufficient conditions on mean-square exponential consensus and stochastic passivity for multi-agent systems under two different switching cases, respectively. By designing passive time-varying consensus protocols, the solvability conditions for the passivity-based consensus protocol synthesis problem, i.e., passification, are derived based on linearization techniques. Numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.     

Cluster consensus of high-order multi-agent systems with switching topologies

This paper investigates the cluster consensus problems of generic linear multi-agent systems with switching topologies. Sufficient criteria for cluster consensus, which generalise the results in existing literatures, are derived for both state feedback and observer-based control schemes. By using an averaging method, it is shown that cluster consensus can be achieved when the union of the acyclic topologies contains a directed spanning tree within each cluster frequently enough. We also provide a principle to construct digraphs with inter-cluster cyclic couplings that promote cluster consensus regardless of the magnitude of inter-agent coupling weights. Finally, numerical examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.     

Consensus of nonlinear multiagent systems with mode-dependent delay via stochastic sampled data under Markovian switching topologies

In this article, we investigate the mean-square consensus problem of multiagent systems with one leader and multiple followers. In consideration of the uncertain disturbance from external environment or internal change of system, the interaction topology and time-varying delay switch randomly which are regulated by a time-homogeneous Markovian chain. The distributed control protocol is designed based on the stochastic sampling information from its neighbors and the leader. Using stochastic Lyapunov theory and linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach, the sufficient condition is concluded to guarantee the mean-square consensus. For the undirected topology case, a low-dimensional LMI-based consensus criterion is further derived based on the matrix diagonalization method. Finally, a numerical simulation is provided to demonstrate the reasonability of the theoretical results.     

具有切换拓扑的多智能体系统协同控制的差分隐私保护

网络信息技术的不断发展与普及使得各类数据的发布采集变得方便与便捷, 但数据的直接发布势必会造成个网络信息的泄露和敏感信息的失密, 因此敏感信息的保护成为了各行各业关注的问题. 本文研究了基于固定拓扑和切换拓扑的多智能体系统协同控制的差分隐私保护问题, 将差分隐私算法与传统平均一致性算法结合, 提出了具有隐私保护的协同控制算法, 分析了隐私保护算法对分布式协同控制闭环系统稳定性的影响. 基于所提算法, 应用矩阵论和概率统计对隐私保护协同控制算法的收敛性和隐私性进行理论分析, 该算法可以保护智能个体的数据隐私, 同时可以使得系统运动实现均方一致. 在系统拓扑结构动态变化的情况下, 本文对该算法的收敛性和隐私性进行理论分析, 讨论了切换拓扑对隐私保护的影响. 最后的仿真示例验证了理论结果的正确性.     

Consensus problem of networked multi-agent systems with constant communication delay: stochastic switching topology case

This article proposes an observer-based control strategy for networked multi-agent systems with constant communication delay and stochastic switching topology. First, using the system transformation method, the mean-square consensus problem of multi-agent systems can be converted into the mean-square stability problem of an equivalent system, and some equivalent conditions concerning the mean-square consensus are presented. Then, an example is given to illustrate that the connection weights should be regarded as the parameters to be designed, since they have a great effect on the mean-square consensus of multi-agent systems. By choosing appropriate connection weights, the mean-square consensus problem can be converted into the mean-square stabilisation problem of N-1 delay systems with stochastic switching signal, whose related observer-based stabilisability criteria can be established in the form of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Furthermore, if the LMIs are feasible, the multi-agent systems achieve mean-square consensus if and only if the union of graphs in the switching topology set has a directed spanning tree. Finally, numerical simulations are given to illustrate our results.     

Stationary consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with bounded communication delays

Consensus seeking is investigated for the discrete-time heterogeneous multi-agent systems composed of first-order agents and second-order agents, and two stationary consensus algorithms are constructed for the first-order agents and the second-order agents, respectively. Based on the properties of nonnegative matrices, sufficient consensus criteria are obtained for the agents with bounded communication delays under fixed topology and switching topologies, respectively. With some prerequisites on the coupling weights and the sampling interval, the asymptotic consensus achievement of the dynamic agents is independent of the communication delay, but strictly depends on the connectedness of the interconnection topology. Simulation results illustrate the correctness of the results.     

Consensus of second-order multi-agent systems with nonsymmetric interconnection and heterogeneous delays

In this paper, a consensus algorithm of multi-agent second-order dynamical systems with nonsymmetric interconnection and heterogeneous delays is studied. With the hypothesis of directed weighted topology graph with a globally reachable node, decentralized consensus condition is obtained by applying generalized Nyquist criterion. For the systems with both communication and input delays, it is shown that the consensus condition is dependent on input delays but independent of communication delays.     

速度不可测的异构多智能体系统一致性分析

近年来,随着异构系统在实际中的广泛应用,异构多智能体系统一致性分析成为研究热点。针对一阶部分智能体控制输入有界、二阶智能体速度不可测的异构多智能体系统,在无向网络拓扑图下给出了无领导者和有领导者两种控制输入设计方法,基于图论知识和LaSalle不变集原理给出了该异构系统实现一致性的充分条件。最后,通过数值仿真验证了该理论的正确性。     

Sampled-data consensus of general linear multi-agent systems under switching topologies: averaging method

This paper investigates sampled-data consensus problems of general linear multi-agent systems under switching topologies. To perform the consensus analysis by the averaging method, the multi-agent system in the sampled-data setting is first converted into the continuous-time system with the input delay. Then, the approximate relationship between the states of this input delay system and the states of its averaged system is established by using the tool from non-standard analysis. Subsequently, a sufficient condition ensuring the sampled-data consensus is obtained by linear matrix inequalities. It is shown that the sampled-data consensus of general linear multi-agent systems, including exponential unstable agents, can be achieved, if the speed of topology switching is fast enough and the sampled-data consensus under the averaging topology can be achieved. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of theoretical analyses.     

Distributed H∞ containment control of multiagent systems over switching topologies with communication time delay

In this study, we consider the problem of distributed H_∞ containment control for multiagent systems over switching communication topologies. There exists a constant time‐delay and the energy‐bounded communication disturbances in the information transmission process, which are considered. Using the relative output, we develop an observer‐based containment control scheme such that the followers asymptotically converge to the convex hull formed by the leaders with a guaranteed H_∞ performance level. By constructing a Lyapunov functional and using the inequality technique, sufficient conditions for the existence of such dynamic controllers are obtained in terms of linear matrix inequalities. Finally, a numerical example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control protocol.