Tracking control for multi-agent consensus with an active leader and variable topology

In this paper, we consider a multi-agent consensus problem with an active leader and variable interconnection topology. The state of the considered leader not only keeps changing but also may not be measured. To track such a leader, a neighbor-based local controller together with a neighbor-based state-estimation rule is given for each autonomous agent. Then we prove that, with the proposed control scheme, each agent can follow the leader if the (acceleration) input of the active leader is known, and the tracking error is estimated if the input of the leader is unknown.     

Global robust distributed output consensus of multi-agent nonlinear systems: An internal model approach

This paper studies the problem of global robust distributed output consensus of heterogeneous leader–follower multi-agent nonlinear systems by general directed output interactions. For a class of minimum-phase single-input single-output nonlinear agents having unity relative degree, it is shown that the problem is solvable by an internal model approach under certain mild conditions. A Lyapunov function based output-feedback control law is developed by converting the global output consensus into a global distributed stabilization problem for an augmented network.     

Leader-following consensus of second-order agents with multiple time-varying delays

In this paper, a leader-following consensus problem of second-order multi-agent systems with fixed and switching topologies as well as non-uniform time-varying delays is considered. For the case of fixed topology, a necessary and sufficient condition is obtained. For the case of switching topology, a sufficient condition is obtained under the assumption that the total period over which the leader is globally reachable is sufficiently large. We not only prove that a consensus is reachable asymptotically but also give an estimation of the convergence rate. An example with simulation is presented to illustrate the theoretical results.     

Average consensus problems in networks of agents with delayed communications

The present paper is devoted to the study of average consensus problems for undirected networks of dynamic agents having communication delays. By focusing on agents with integrator dynamics, the accent is put here on the study of the time-delay influence: both constant and time-varying delays are considered, as well as uniform and non-uniform repartitions of the delays in the network. The main results provide sufficient conditions (also necessary in most cases) for the existence of average consensus under bounded communication delays. Simulations are provided that show adequation with these results.     

Distributed robust consensus control of multi-agent systems with heterogeneous matching uncertainties

This paper considers the distributed consensus problem of linear multi-agent systems subject to different matching uncertainties for both the cases without and with a leader of bounded unknown control input. Due to the existence of nonidentical uncertainties, the multi-agent systems discussed in this paper are essentially heterogeneous. For the case where the communication graph is undirected and connected, based on the local state information of neighboring agents, a fully distributed continuous adaptive consensus protocol is designed, under which the consensus error is uniformly ultimately bounded and exponentially converges to a small adjustable bounded set. For the case where there exists a leader whose control input is unknown and bounded, a distributed adaptive consensus protocol is proposed to ensure the boundedness of the consensus error. A sufficient condition for the existence of the proposed protocols is that each agent is stabilizable.     

具有时延的多个体系统的一致性问题综述

考察了具有时延的多个体系统的一致性问题．根据不同的分析方法,介绍了关于具有通信时延的多个体系统一致性问题的结果,并对各种分析方法的特点进行了比较．此外,对具有输入时延的多个体系统的现有一致性结果也作了介绍．最后评述了该研究领域存在的问题以及今后的研究方向．     

Analysis of consensus protocols with bounded measurement errors

This paper analyzes two classes of consensus algorithms in the presence of bounded measurement errors. The considered protocols adopt an updating rule based either on constant or vanishing weights. Under the assumption of bounded error, the consensus problem is cast in a set-membership framework, and the agreement of the team is studied by analyzing the evolution of the feasible state set. Bounds on the asymptotic difference between the states of the agents are explicitly derived, in terms of the bounds on the measurement noise and the values of the weight matrix.     

Finite-time weighted average consensus with respect to a monotonic function and its application

The consensus state is an important and fundamental quantity for consensus problems of multi-agent systems, which indicates where all the dynamical agents reach. In this paper, weighted average consensus with respect to a monotonic function, which means that the trajectories of the monotonic function along the state of each agent reach the weighted average of their initial values, is studied for a group of kinematic agents with time-varying topology. By constructing a continuous nonlinear distributed protocol, such a consensus problem can be solved in finite time even though the time-varying topology involves unconnected graphs. Then the distributed protocol is employed to compute the maximum-likelihood estimation of unknown parameters over sensor networks. Compared with the existing results, the estimate scheme proposed here may reduce the costs of data communication, storage memory, book-keeping and computational overheads.     

Passivity and stability of switched systems: A multiple storage function method

This paper presents a concept of passivity for switched systems using multiple storage functions. This passivity property is invariant under compatible feedback interconnection. Branicky's stability theorem of multiple Lyapunov functions is generalized by relaxing the non-increasing condition on values of Lyapunov-like functions. Using this result we show that a passive switched system is stable in the sense of Lyapunov. Moreover, asymptotic stability is reached if all subsystems are asymptotically detectable.     

Multi-agent consensus with diverse time-delays and jointly-connected topologies

This paper investigates consensus problems in networks of continuous-time agents with diverse time-delays and jointly-connected topologies. For convergence analysis of the networks, a class of Lyapunov–Krasovskii functions is constructed which contains two parts: one describes the current disagreement dynamics and the other describes the integral impact of the dynamics of the whole network over the past. By a contradiction approach, sufficient conditions are derived under which all agents reach consensus, even though the communication structures between agents dynamically change over time and the corresponding graphs may not be connected. The obtained conditions are composed of a sum of decoupled parts corresponding to each possible connected component of the communication topology. Finally, numerical examples are included to illustrate the obtained results.     

Robust consensus of multi-agent systems with diverse input delays and asymmetric interconnection perturbations

The consensus problem of second-order multi-agent systems with diverse input delays is investigated. Based on the frequency-domain analysis, decentralized consensus conditions are obtained for the multi-agent system with symmetric coupling weights. Then, the robustness of the symmetric system with asymmetric perturbation is studied. A bound of the largest singular value of the perturbation matrix is obtained as the robust consensus condition. Simulation examples illustrate the design procedure of consensus protocols and validate the correctness of the results.     

Distributed event-triggered consensus control for multiple Lur'e nonlinear systems under directed graph

This article addresses the distributed consensus problem of multi-agent systems with Lur'e nonlinear dynamics under directed graphs based on event-triggered strategy. With the state-dependent event-triggered thresholds, a novel distributed event-triggered consensus controller is designed, under which the consensus can be achieved with zero final consensus error. The proposed strategy has several distinguishing features, including the fact that individual agent does not require continuous, or even periodic, communication with their neighbours to update the controller or monitor the triggering condition, and all the required parameters can be locally determined by the agent. Furthermore, we also prove that there is no Zeno behaviour existed. Finally, the simulation example about Chua’s circuit is given to illustrate the theoretical analysis.     

On the variable structure control approach with sliding modes to robust finite-time consensus problems: A methodological overview based on nonsmooth analysis

When controlling cyber–physical systems via consensus algorithms, the robustness issue is of paramount importance because of model mismatching and/or disturbances that generally modify the Laplacian flow dynamics associated to the overall network, compromising the possibility to achieve any expected, orchestrated emergent behavior. To face this issue, the Variable Structure Control (VSC) approach has recently been shown to be an effective tool in designing control protocols over networks, providing robustness and often yielding finite-time convergence. Moreover, VSC further enables the decoupling of simultaneous control objectives where reaching a consensus state is only part of a more complex task, for instance as it happens in distributed optimization. Thus motivated, this paper overviews, from a tutorial perspective, some selected recent advances in the application of VSC with Sliding Modes to design robust consensus controllers in both the leader-less and the leader-following settings. Efforts are also made to unify the notation and to discuss the theoretical foundations of the nonsmooth analysis tools at the basis of their design for a wide readership unfamiliar with these problems and formal tools. To this aim, examples supporting the treatment, and numerical simulations, are given and discussed in detail. Finally, hints for future investigations along with some current open problems are provided.     

Solving a modified consensus problem of linear multi-agent systems

A distributed protocol is proposed for a modified consensus problem of a network of agents that have the same continuous-time linear dynamics. Each agent estimates its own state using its output information and then sends the estimated state to its neighbor agents for the purpose of reaching a consensus. The modified consensus problem requires the group decision value to be a linear function of initial states and initial estimated states of all agents in the network, and the transformation matrix associated with this linear function not to be a zero matrix. It is proved that under the proposed control protocol, the modified consensus problem can be solved if and only if the system matrices of the agent’s dynamics are stabilizable and detectable, the input matrix is not a zero matrix, and the communication topology graph has a spanning tree. The proposed protocol can also be extended to multi-agent systems where agents are described by discrete-time linear dynamics. The corresponding necessary and sufficient conditions are provided as well.     

Distributed consensus control of unicycle agents in the presence of external disturbances

In this paper, a distributed consensus control strategy is presented for a team of unicycle agents subject to external disturbances. Bounded disturbances with unknown dynamics on both translational and angular velocities are applied to the system. The key idea is to design the control inputs of each agent in such a way that, after a finite time, agents move with an acute angle with respect to a reference vector typically used for the consensus control of disturbance-free single-integrator agents. Convergence to consensus is then proved using Lyapunov theory. Simulation results confirm the efficacy of the proposed controller.     

A control design method for a class of switched linear systems

In this note we consider the stability properties of a system class that arises in the control design problem of switched linear systems. The control design we are studying is based on a classical pole-placement approach. We analyse the stability of the resulting switched system and develop analytic conditions which reduce the complexity of the stability problem. We further consider two special cases for which strongly simplified conditions are obtained that support the analytic controller design.     

A connection between formation infeasibility and velocity alignment in kinematic multi-agent systems

In this paper, a feedback control strategy that achieves convergence of a multi-agent system to a desired formation configuration is proposed for both the cases of agents with single integrator and nonholonomic unicycle-type kinematics. When inter-agent objectives that specify the desired formation cannot occur simultaneously in the state space the desired formation is infeasible. It is shown that under certain assumptions, formation infeasibility forces the agents’ velocity vectors to a common value at steady state. This provides a connection between formation infeasibility and flocking behavior for the multi-agent system. We finally also obtain an analytic expression of the common velocity vector in the case of formation infeasibility.     

A two-level parameter estimation algorithm using the multiple projection approach

An efficient two-level algorithm is developed for parameter estimation using the multiple projection approach. The optimal minimum variance estimate is achieved using a fixed number of iterations. Both the recursive and non-recursive versions of the algorithm are presented. Simulation results of two examples have indicated that the new two-level algorithm provides accurate estimates whilst needing a reduced amount of computational effort.     

Dynamic consensus of high-order multi-agent systems and its application in the motion control of multiple mobile robots

In this paper, the leader-following consensus problem for multi-agent linear dynamic systems is considered. All agents and leader have identical multi-input multi-output (MIMO) linear dynamics that can be of any order, and only the output information of each agent is delivered throughout the communication network. When the interaction topology is fixed, the leader-following consensus is attained by H∞ dynamic output feedback control, and the sufficient condition of robust controllers is equal to the solvability of linear matrix inequality (LMI). The whole analysis is based on spectral decomposition and an equivalent decoupled structure achieved, and the stability of the system is proved. Finally, we extended the theoretical results to the case that the interaction topology is switching. The simulation results for multiple mobile robots show the effectiveness of the devised methods.