非完整约束多智能体系统基于屏障控制函数的分布式协同控制

本文设计了一种基于屏障控制函数(CBF)的分布式协同控制算法,实现了领航–跟随者框架下非完整约束多智能体系统的连通性与编队控制.首先,通过将连通性保持问题建模为系统约束,定义了该约束的调零屏障函数(ZBF).其次,在此基础上,构建李雅普诺夫函数与角速度输入之间的关系,对跟随者智能体设计了基于调零屏障函数的协同控制算法,其中线速度控制器保证跟随者的速度的跟踪与队形的跟踪,而梯度型角速度控制器实现跟随者角度的矫正.然后,利用调零屏障函数不变集相关引理证明了连通性约束集为正不变集,若初始时刻连通,则跟随者智能体始终与领航者保持连通性.同时,本文提出的算法实现编队误差的渐近收敛.本文中的队形适用常见的固定队形编队需求,也适用于领航者是动态(有线速度和角速度)的情况.最后,通过数值仿真进一步验证了该算法在不同队形需求下的有效性.     

一种域首选举改进算法研究

分布式网络系统存在节点种类异构、节点数量巨大的特点,对系统的网络监控和动态管理的有效性提出了更高的要求,因此需将分布式系统分成多个域进行管理,域首选举是分域的关键。分析现有的最大连接度和最小负载的域首选举算法的优缺点,提出基于最大连接度和最小负载相结合的域首选举改进算法,仿真结果表明该算法提高了域首选举的稳定性和网络管理的效率。     

Leader‐following consensus with connectivity preservation of uncertain Euler–Lagrange multi‐agent systems

The leader‐following consensus problem for multiple Euler–Lagrange systems has been extensively studied for various scenarios. Under the assumption that the communication graph is jointly connected, one of our recent papers gave the solution for the case where the leader system can generate a combination of arbitrary step signal, arbitrary ramp signal, and arbitrary sinusoidal signals. In practice, it is desirable to enable the control law the capability of maintaining the connectivity of the communication graph, thus achieving the leader‐following consensus without assuming the connectivity of the communication graph. We call such a problem as leader‐following consensus with connectivity preservation. By combining the adaptive control technique and potential function technique, we will show that such a problem is solvable. By employing different potential functions, our approach may also lead to the solution of such problems as rendezvous, flocking and swarming. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rendezvous with connectivity preservation for multi-robot systems with an unknown leader

This paper studies the leader-following rendezvous problem with connectivity preservation for multi-agent systems composed of uncertain multi-robot systems subject to external disturbances and an unknown leader, both of which are generated by a so-called exosystem with parametric uncertainty. By combining internal model design, potential function technique and adaptive control, two distributed control strategies are proposed to maintain the connectivity of the communication network, to achieve the asymptotic tracking of all the followers to the output of the unknown leader system, as well as to reject unknown external disturbances. It is also worth to mention that the uncertain parameters in the multi-robot systems and exosystem are further allowed to belong to unknown and unbounded sets when applying the second fully distributed control law containing a dynamic gain inspired by high-gain adaptive control or self-tuning regulator.     

Flocking coordination using active leader and local information

In this paper coordination of a group of agents by a coordinator agent, called the leader‐agent (LA), is discussed. Agents have identical finite sensing radii and access only the local information. Inter‐agent interactions bring them together as a multi‐agent network system. In a recently proposed flocking algorithm using a virtual leader, it is proved that if a fraction of agents are informed then the center of mass of the multi‐agent system tracks the virtual leader. The minimum number of the fraction is always greater than one. In this paper the only informed agent is the LA. Interaction functions are defined to make the model of the multi‐agent system suitable for the design of the coordination control algorithm. The leader‐agent accesses its local data and actively plans its motions through a nonlinear control method. It is proven in this paper that the multi‐agent system tracks the virtual leader and a locally defined point near the LA converges to the position of the virtual leader. It is also shown that in this case, center of mass of the multi‐agent system follows the virtual leader but with a finite distance. We have also discussed positive effects of the LA on network connectivity. Finally illustrative examples are added as well. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society     

Asynchronous Distributed Algorithms for Heading Consensus of Multi‐Agent Systems with Communication Delay

In this paper, we propose two asynchronous distributed protocols for the heading consensus of a multi‐agent group which cannot access a global coordinate system and a global time. Both the leaderless and leader‐following cases are addressed, and inter‐agent communication delay is taken into account. It is proved, under some standard connectivity assumptions, that our leaderless algorithm ensures the heading consensus provided the initial headings are not balanced; and the leader‐based algorithm guarantees the global heading consensus.     

Controllability of a Leader–Follower Dynamic Network With Switching Topology

This note studies the controllability of a leader-follower network of dynamic agents linked via neighbor rules. The leader is a particular agent acting as an external input to steer the other member agents. Based on switched control system theory, we derive a simple controllability condition for the network with switching topology, which indicates that the controllability of the whole network does not need to rely on that of the network for every specific topology. This merit provides convenience and flexibility in design and application of multiagent networks. For the fixed topology case, we show that the network is uncontrollable whenever the leader has an unbiased action on every member, regardless of the connectivity of the members themselves. This gives new insight into the relation between the controllability and the connectivity of the leader-follower network. We also give a formula for formation control of the network.     

Event‐triggered global leader‐following consensus of a group of neutrally stable linear systems subject to input saturation

This paper studies the global leader‐following consensus problem for a multiagent system using event‐triggered linear feedback control laws. The leader agent is described by a neutrally stable linear system and the follower agents are also described by a neutrally stable linear system but with saturating input. Both the state‐feedback case and the output‐feedback case are considered. In each case, an event‐triggered control law is constructed for each follower agent and an event‐triggering strategy is designed for updating these control laws. These event‐triggered control laws are shown to achieve global leader‐following consensus when the communication topology among the follower agents is strongly connected and detailed balanced and the leader is a neighbor of at least one follower agent. The Zeno behavior is excluded. The theoretical results are illustrated by simulation.     

Improved leaderless consenus criteria of networked multi-agent systems based on the sampled data

This paper is concerned with leaderless consensus of networked multi-agent systems with Lipschitz-type nonlinear dynamics based on the sampled data. By introducing a weighted average state of all nodes as the virtual leader, the error variables are defined as the distance between agents and the virtual leader. The improvements are done in two directions. First, several consensus conditions are derived by linear matrix inequalities based on Finsler's lemma instead of algebraic criteria based on the general algebraic connectivity. Finsler's lemma is utilised to deal with the linear dependence of the error variables. Second, a distributed event-triggered transmission strategy under the periodic sampling scheme is proposed to reduce the communication between agents and the control updates, which only need to check the event condition at each sampling instant, avoiding the continuous monitor. With the improved strategies, one theorem and two corollaries are derived and a co-design approach of the feedback gain and the event-triggered matrix is also presented. Finally, an example is provided to validate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.     

Synchronization of coupled harmonic oscillators in a dynamic proximity network

In this paper, we revisit the synchronization problems for coupled harmonic oscillators in a dynamic proximity network. Unlike many existing algorithms for distributed control of complex dynamical networks that require explicit assumptions on the network connectivity, we show that the coupled harmonic oscillators can always be synchronized, without imposing any network connectivity assumption. Moreover, we also investigate the synchronization with a leader and show that all harmonic oscillators can asymptotically attain the position and velocity of the leader, again without any assumption on connectivity of the followers. Numerical simulation illustrates the theoretical results.     

Semi‐global output consensus of a group of linear systems in the presence of external disturbances and actuator saturation: An output regulation approach

This paper studies the problem of semi‐global leader‐following output consensus of a multi‐agent system. The output of each follower agent in the system, described by a same general linear system subject to external disturbances and actuator saturation, is to track the output of the leader, described by a linear system, which also generates disturbances as the exosystem does in the classical output regulation problem. Conditions on the agent dynamics are identified, under which a low‐gain feedback‐based linear state‐control algorithm is constructed for each follower agent such that the output consensus is achieved when the communication topology among the agents is a digraph containing no loop, and the leader is reachable from any follower agent. We also extend the results to the non‐identical disturbance case. In this case, conditions based on both the agent dynamics and the communication topology are identified, under which a low‐gain feedback‐based linear state‐control algorithm is constructed for each follower agent such that the leader‐following output consensus is achieved when the communication topology among the follower agents is a strongly connected and detailed balanced digraph, and the leader is a neighbor of at least one follower. In addition, under some further conditions on the agent dynamics, the control algorithm is adapted so as to achieve semi‐global leader‐following output consensus for a jointly connected undirected graph and the leader reachable from at least one follower. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Leader–follower tracking control with guaranteed consensus performance for interconnected systems with linear dynamic uncertain coupling

This paper considers the leader–follower tracking control problem for linear interconnected systems with undirected topology and linear dynamic coupling. Interactions between the systems are treated as linear dynamic uncertainty and are described in terms of integral quadratic constraints (IQCs). A consensus-type tracking control protocol is proposed for each system based on its state relative to its neighbours. In addition, a selected set of subsystems is used to control their relative states with respect to the leader. Two methods are proposed for the design of this control protocol. One method uses a coordinate transformation to recast the protocol design problem as a decentralised robust control problem for an auxiliary interconnected large-scale system. Another method is direct; it does not employ coordinate transformation, rather it also allows for more general linear uncertain interactions. Using these methods, sufficient conditions are obtained which guarantee that the system tracks the leader. These conditions guarantee a suboptimal bound on the system consensus and tracking performance. The proposed methods are compared using a simulation example, and their effectiveness is discussed. Also, algorithms are proposed for computing suboptimal controllers.     

Semi‐global leader‐following consensus of multiple linear systems with position and rate limited actuators

This paper studies the semi‐global leader‐following consensus problem for a group of linear systems in the presence of both actuator position and rate saturation. Each follower agent in the group is described by a general linear system subject to simultaneous actuator position and rate saturation. For each follower agent, we construct both a linear state feedback control law and a linear output feedback control law by using low gain approach. We show that semi‐global leader‐following consensus can be achieved by using these control laws when the communication topology among follower agents is a connected undirected graph, and the leader is a neighbor of at least one follower. Simulation results illustrate the theoretical results. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于多节点社团意识系统的属性图聚类算法

属性图用属性向量描述节点,用边描述节点间的关系。为了把节点划分为具有紧密联系的社团,一种有效的方法是对属性图进行聚类。聚类方法有不同的标准,如节点连接度和属性相似度。虽然社团一般是围绕紧密的连边和相似的属性值的节点形成,但是目前的方法都只关注了这两种数据形式中的一种。通过给每个节点赋予一个自治域,提出一个准确且可延展的多节点系统用于提取属性图中的重叠社团。首先,引入带有可调带宽因子的核函数用于测度每个节点的影响力,具有最高局部影响力的节点可以被看作领导节点。其次,提出一种新颖的局部扩展策略,使每一个领导节点能够吸收属性图中相关性最强的跟随者。接着,设计了多节点社团意识系统,该系统为节点之间的充分沟通提供了必要的条件,从而能够得出最优的重叠社团结构。社团中的节点不仅互相联系紧密,而且也有相似的属性。该算法的计算复杂度在特定带宽条件下近似于连边数目的线性函数。最后,基于标准属性图和真实属性图的实验验证了该系统的有效性和高效性。     

The leader-following rendezvous with connectivity preservation via a self-tuning adaptive distributed observer

This paper studies the leader-following rendezvous with connectivity preservation problem for multiple double-integrator systems subject to external disturbances via a self-tuning adaptive distributed observer approach. This approach offers two advantages over the existing approach. First, it removes the existing assumption that all the followers know the system matrix of the leader system. Second, the difficult task of calculating the observer gain is avoided by the employment of the dynamic observer gain. A rigorous analysis shows that our control law is capable of maintaining the connectivity of any initial connected communication network, and achieving the asymptotic tracking and disturbance rejection for a class of leader's signals and external disturbances, which can be the algebraic sum or multiplication of any polynomial functions with any unknown coefficients and sinusoidal functions with arbitrary unknown amplitudes, initial phases, and any frequencies.     

Connectivity Preserving Flocking without Velocity Measurement

In this paper, we address the design of a decentralized controller for connectivity‐preserving flocking, where each agent only can access to the position information of the agents within its sensing zone. An output vector, based on the position information alone, is constructed to replace the role of velocity, and some bounded attractive and repulsive forces are integrated together to design the controller. We prove that the controller not only synchronizes all agents in a stable formation, but also enables collision avoidance and connectivity preserving all of the time, when the initial condition meets certain requirements. Moreover, a leader‐follower method is used to guide the group to a desired direction, where the followers can sense the leader only if the distance between them is less than the communication radius.     

Underwater guidance of distributed autonomous underwater vehicles using one leader

Consider the case where autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are deployed to monitor a 3D underwater environment. This paper tackles the problem of guiding all AUVs to the destination while not colliding with a priori unknown 3D obstacles. Suppose that among all AUVs, only the leader AUV has an ability of locating itself, while accessing a destination location. A follower, an AUV that is not a leader, has no sensors for locating itself. Every follower can only measure the relative position of its neighbor AUVs utilizing its sonar sensors. Our paper addresses distributed controls, so that multiple followers track the leader while preserving communication connectivity. We design controls, so that all AUVs reach the destination safely, while maintaining connectivity in cluttered 3D environments. To the best of our knowledge, our article is novel in developing 3D underwater guidance controls, so that all AUVs equipped with sonar sensors are guided to reach a destination in a priori unknown cluttered environments. MATLAB simulations are used to validate the proposed guidance scheme in underwater environments with many obstacles.     

The leader-following attitude control of multiple rigid spacecraft systems

In this paper, we consider the leader-following consensus problem for a multiple rigid spacecraft system whose attitude is represented by the unit quaternion. Most results on this problem rely on the assumption that every follower can access the state of the leader and are obtained via a decentralized control manner. By developing a nonlinear distributed observer for the leader system, we can solve this problem via a distributed control scheme under the mild assumptions that the state of the leader can reach every follower through a path and that the communication between followers is bidirectional. Moreover, our result can accommodate a class of desired angular velocities generated by a marginally stable linear autonomous system.     

Adaptive Flocking Control with a Minority of Informed Agents

In this paper, we address the flocking problem of multiple dynamic mobile agents with a virtual leader in a dynamic proximity network. To avoid fragmentation, we propose a novel flocking algorithm that consists of both an adaptive controller for followers and a feedback controller for the virtual leader. Based on our algorithm, all agents in the group can form a network, maintain connectivity, and track the virtual leader, even when only a minority of agents have access to the information of the virtual leader. Finally, several convincing simulation results are provided that demonstrate 2‐D flocking of a group of agents using the proposed algorithm.     

Semi-global weighted output average tracking of discrete-time heterogeneousmulti-agent systems subject to input saturation and external disturbances

In this paper, we revisit the semi-global weighted output average tracking problem for a discrete-time multi-agent system subject to input saturation and external disturbances. The multi-agent system consists of multiple heterogeneous linear systems as leader agents and multiple heterogeneous linear systems as follower agents. We design both the state feedback and output feedback control protocols for each follower agent. In particular, a distributed state observer is designed for each follower agent that estimates the state of each leader agent. In the output feedback case, state observer is also designed for each follower agent to estimate its own state. With these estimates, we design low gain-based distributed control protocols, parameterized in a scalar low gain parameter. It is shown that, for any bounded set of the initial conditions, these control protocols cause the follower agents to track the weighted average of the outputs of the leader agents as long as the value of the low gain parameter is tuned sufficiently small. Simulation results illustrate the validity of the theoretical results.