Distributed learning consensus control based on neural networks for heterogeneous nonlinear multiagent systems

This paper considers a novel distributed iterative learning consensus control algorithm based on neural networks for the control of heterogeneous nonlinear multiagent systems. The system's unknown nonlinear function is approximated by suitable neural networks; the approximation error is countered by a robust term in the control. Two types of control algorithms, both of which utilize distributed learning laws, are provided to achieve consensus. In the provided control algorithms, the desired reference is considered to be an unknown factor and then estimated using the associated learning laws. The consensus convergence is proven by the composite energy function method. A numerical simulation is ultimately presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed control schemes.     

Multi‐layer distributed protocols for robust cooperative tracking in interconnected nonlinear multiagent systems

We develop a mixed graph and optimal control theoretic formulation to design a robust cooperative control protocol for a large‐scale multiagent system with partially known interconnected first‐, second‐, or mixed first‐ and second‐order dynamics. In each case, we transform the control protocol design task to a robust communication graph design problem, which, from a cyber‐physical perspective, is interpreted as the control layer design problem for an interconnected system with unknown agent layer dynamics. According to this viewpoint, each state variable has its own control layer communication topology separate from the other state variable's communication topology and the unknown agent layer interconnection topologies. We prove that all cooperative, decentralized, and centralized tracking protocols can be treated as a single design problem and, by deriving closed‐form solutions for the robust control layer topologies, we further provide a simpler design procedure, which is only based on the matrix manipulations. Aside from the linear implementation of the protocol and the connection of the proposed formulation to the well known rules‐of‐thumb in optimal control theory, this creates a higher potential to transfer ideas to industry. Modeling uncertainties tolerable by a given control layer topology is analyzed, and a preliminary performance‐oriented analysis and design approach for large‐scale interconnected systems is discussed. We show that exactly the same steps can be followed to design appropriate control layers for both tracking and stabilization.     

Consensus seeking in multiagent cooperative control systems with bounded control input

Consensus algorithms in multiagent cooperative control systems with bounded control input are studied in this paper.Consensus algorithms are considered for the single-integrator dynamics and double-integrator dynamics under different communication interaction topologies,and show that consensus is reached asymptotically using the algorithm proposed in this paper for the single-integrator dynamics if the undirected interaction graph is connected,and consensus is reached asymptotically if the directed interaction graph is strongly connected,respectively.In addition,the paper further shows that consensus is reached asymptotically using the algorithm proposed for the double-integrator dynamics if the directed interaction graph is strongly connected.The effectiveness of these algorithms is demonstrated through simulations.     

Neuroadaptive containment control of nonlinear multiagent systems with input saturations

This paper investigates the output containment tracking problem of nonlinear multiagent systems with mismatched uncertain dynamics and input saturations. A neural network–based distributed adaptive command filtered backstepping (CFB) scheme is given, which can guarantee that the containment tracking errors reach to the desired neighborhood of origin and all signals in the closed‐loop system are bounded. Note that error compensation system and virtual control laws established in CFB only use local information, so the given scheme is completely distributed. Moreover, the applied sliding mode differentiator (SMD) can make the outputs of SMD fast approximate the virtual signal and its derivative at each step of backstepping, which can further improve the control quality. Finally, a simulation example is given to show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.     

基于自适应分布式滤波观测器的多智能体系统编队控制

本文考虑了全局指令系统输出信息受到信道扰动情况下线性多智能体系统的编队控制问题.首先,基于协作式输出调节理论框架对线性多智能体系统的编队控制问题进行数学建模.其次,针对受到信道扰动的全局指令系统输出信息,提出了一类基于受扰输出的自适应分布式滤波观测器,在降低网络信息交换量的同时消除扰动的影响.最后,设计了输出反馈确定等价控制律,解决了线性多智能体系统的分布式编队控制问题.给出了数值仿真结果检验控制性能.     

非线性系统神经网络自适应控制的发展现状及展望

简要回顾了神经网络控制及其应用的发展历程,重点论述了人们在连续、离散时间非线性系统的神经网络以及神经模糊稳定自适应控制研究方面所取得的主要进展,探讨了神经网络自适应控制研究方面存在的主要问题及解决问题的基本途径.作为当前解决神经网络自适应控制问题的途径之一,介绍了近来人们对二阶模糊神经网络以及量子神经网络的研究.最后,总结并指出了这一领域下一步的发展方向和有待解决的新课题.     

Dissipative-based adaptive neural control for nonlinear systems

A dissipative-based adaptive neural control scheme was developed for a class of nonlinear uncertain systems with unknown nonlinearities that might not be linearly parameterized. The major advantage of the present work was to relax the requirement of matching condition, i.e., the unknown nonlinearities appear on the same equation as the control input in a state-space representation, which was required in most of the available neural network controllers. By synthesizing a state-feedback neural controller to make the closed-loop system dissipative with respect to a quadratic supply rate, the developed control scheme guarantees that the L2-gain of controlled system was less than or equal to a prescribed level. And then, it is shown that the output tracking error is uniformly ultimate bounded. The design scheme is illustrated using a numerical simulation.     

Robust adaptive neural control for a class of uncertain MIMO nonlinear systems

In this paper, a novel robust adaptive neural control scheme is proposed for a class of uncertain multi-input multi-output nonlinear systems. The proposed scheme has the following main features: (1) a kind of Hurwitz condition is introduced to handle the state-dependent control gain matrix and some assumptions in existing schemes are relaxed; (2) by introducing a novel matrix normalisation technique, it is shown that all bound restrictions imposed on the control gain matrix in existing schemes can be removed; (3) the singularity problem is avoided without any extra effort, which makes the control law quite simple. Besides, with the aid of the minimal learning parameter technique, only one parameter needs to be updated online regardless of the system input–output dimension and the number of neural network nodes. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.     

非线性时滞系统的稳定自适应控制

针对模型不确定性的连续时间时滞系统，提出了一种新的神经网络自适应控制。系统的辨识模型是由神经网络和系统的已知信息组合构成，在此基础上，建立时滞系统的预测模型。基于神经网络预测模型的自适应控制器能够实现期望轨线的跟踪，理论上证明了闭环系统的稳定性。连续搅拌釜式反应器仿真结果表明了该控制方案的有效性。     

Prescribed performance global stable adaptive neural dynamic surface consensus tracking control of stochastic multi-agent systems with hysteresis inputs and nonlinear dynamics

This paper focuses on the leader-following consensus control problem of stochastic multi-agent systems with hysteresis inputs and nonlinear dynamics. A leader-following consensus scheme is presented for stochastic multi-agent systems directions under directed graphs, which can achieve predefined synchronisation error bounds. By mainly activating an auxiliary robust control component for pulling back the transient escaped from the neural active region, a multi-switching robust neuro adaptive controller in the neural approximation domain, which can achieve globally uniformly ultimately bounded tracking stability of multi-agent systems recently. A specific Nussbaum-type function is introduced to solve the problem of unknown control directions. Using a dynamic surface control technique, distributed consensus controllers are developed to guarantee that the outputs of all followers synchronise with that of the leader with prescribed performance. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, it is proved that all signals in closed-loop systems are uniformly ultimately bounded and all the follower agents can keep consensus with the leader. Two simulation examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness and advantage of the proposed control scheme.     

Adaptive cooperative output regulation of nonlinear multiagent systems with arbitrarily large parametric uncertainties and an uncertain leader

This paper extends the result for cooperative output regulation problem for uncertain nonlinear multiagent systems in output feedback form in the sense that the exosystem generating leader's signal and disturbance is allowed to contain unknown parameter, and all parameters in the whole multiagent system can be arbitrarily large. Since only the information of itself and its neighbors is available, constructing a distributed control law is necessary for the asymptotic tracking of the uncertain leader's signal and the rejection of unknown external disturbances, which is also the main challenge here. A series of simulations are conducted to illustrate the efficiency and advantage of our designs together with the comparison of the design in the existing work.     

Distributed control of uncertain multiagent systems for tracking a leader with unknown fractional‐order dynamics

This paper proposes distributed adaptive cooperative control algorithms for second‐order agents to track a leader with unknown dynamics. The models of the followers and the leader are composed of uncertain nonlinear components. The order of the leader's dynamics is unknown and can be fractional. Only the single output information is shared among neighbored agents. To simplify the control design, linearly parameterized neural networks are used to approximate the unknown functions. We first present an adaptive control for leaderless consensus and then extend the method to the tracking problem. Thorough theoretical proofs as well as numerical simulation are included to verify the results. Compared with relevant literature, the new approach applies to a larger variety of systems because (i) knowledge about the structure of leader's model is unnecessary; (ii) the unknown functions in different agents' dynamics can be diverse and arbitrary, in other words, the algorithms apply to heterogeneous agents; (iii) the results can be simply used without parameter calculations.     

Distributed containment control for nonlinear multiagent systems in pure‐feedback form

In this paper, the problem of distributed containment control for pure‐feedback nonlinear multiagent systems under a directed graph topology is investigated. The dynamics of each agent are molded by high‐order nonaffine pure‐feedback form. Neural networks are employed to identify unknown nonlinear functions, and dynamic surface control technique is used to avoid the problem of explosion of complexity inherent in backstepping design procedure. The Frobenius norm of the ideal neural network weighting matrices is estimated, which is helpful to reduce the number of the adaptive tuning law and alleviate the networked communication burden. The proposed distributed containment controllers guarantee that all signals in the closed‐loop systems are cooperatively semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded, and the outputs of followers are driven into a convex hull spanned by the multiple dynamic leaders. Finally, the effectiveness of the developed method is demonstrated by simulation examples.     

Opportunities for multiagent systems and multiagent reinforcement learning in traffic control

The increasing demand for mobility in our society poses various challenges to traffic engineering, computer science in general, and artificial intelligence and multiagent systems in particular. As it is often the case, it is not possible to provide additional capacity, so that a more efficient use of the available transportation infrastructure is necessary. This relates closely to multiagent systems as many problems in traffic management and control are inherently distributed. Also, many actors in a transportation system fit very well the concept of autonomous agents: the driver, the pedestrian, the traffic expert; in some cases, also the intersection and the traffic signal controller can be regarded as an autonomous agent. However, the “agentification” of a transportation system is associated with some challenging issues: the number of agents is high, typically agents are highly adaptive, they react to changes in the environment at individual level but cause an unpredictable collective pattern, and act in a highly coupled environment. Therefore, this domain poses many challenges for standard techniques from multiagent systems such as coordination and learning. This paper has two main objectives: (i) to present problems, methods, approaches and practices in traffic engineering (especially regarding traffic signal control); and (ii) to highlight open problems and challenges so that future research in multiagent systems can address them.     

Neural adaptive prescribed performance control for interconnected nonlinear systems with output dead zone

This paper is concerned with the neural‐based decentralized adaptive control for interconnected nonlinear systems with prescribed performance and unknown dead zone outputs. In the controller design procedure, neural networks are employed to identify unknown auxiliary functions, and the control design obstacle caused by the output nonlinearity is resolved via introducing Nussbaum function. Then, a reliable neural decentralized adaptive control is developed through incorporating the backstepping method and the prescribed performance technique. In the light of Lyapunov stability theory, it is verified that the proposed control scheme can ensure that all the closed‐loop signals are bounded, and can also guarantee that the tracking errors remain within a small enough compact set with the prescribed performance bounds. Finally, some simulation results are given to illustrate the feasibility of the devised control strategy.     

Connectivity preservation of second-order nonlinear multiagent systems with hybrid event-driven and time-driven control

In practice, the capability of communication between each pair of agents is within a finite range. This paper investigates how to preserve connectivity for nonlinear multiagent systems while reaching consensus under event-driven control technique. By introducing an appropriate potential function based on the distance of two agents, we can demonstrate that all the agents will not lose connectivity if the initial undirected graph is connected. Furthermore, due to the existence of friction and time delay, we utilise the Young's inequality and a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional to eliminate the negative effects of time delay. The use of impulse functions is considered which can avoid the singularity in the control input. Moreover, the hybrid event-driven and time-driven control technique is utilised to reduce the requirements of communication resources. Finally, numerical simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of our methodology.     

Robust adaptive control for a class of uncertain non-affine nonlinear systems using affine-type neural networks

A robust adaptive control is proposed for a class of single-input single-output non-affine nonlinear systems. In order to approximate the unknown nonlinear function, a novel affine-type neural network is used, and then to compensate the approximation error and external disturbance a robust control term is employed. By Lyapunov stability analysis for the closed-loop system, it is proved that tracking errors asymptotically converge to zero. Moreover, an observer is designed to estimate the system states because all the states may not be available for measurements. Furthermore, the adaptation laws of neural networks and the robust controller are given out based on the Lyapunov stability theory. Finally, two simulation examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control method.     

Non-affine nonlinear adaptive control of decentralized large-scale systems using neural networks

This paper introduces a new decentralized adaptive neural network controller for a class of large-scale nonlinear systems with unknown non-affine subsystems and unknown interconnections represented by nonlinear functions. A radial basis function neural network is used to represent the controller’s structure. The stability of the closed loop system is guaranteed through Lyapunov stability analysis. The effectiveness of the proposed decentralized adaptive controller is illustrated by considering two nonlinear systems: a two-inverted pendulum and a turbo generator. The simulation results verify the merits of the proposed controller.     

Observer-based adaptive neural fault-tolerant control for nonlinear systems with prescribed performance and input dead-zone

This article investigates the adaptive fault-tolerant tracking control problem for nonlinear systems with prescribed performance and input dead-zone. First, a new composite variable is constructed by using the characteristics of actuator fault and input dead-zone for the modeling purpose. Second, an adaptive neural network observer is designed to estimate the system states in the presence of inaccurate feedback information. Third, the proposed control strategy effectively counteracts the effects of sensor failure and unknown nonlinear functions, which makes the tracking error confined within the performance boundary and all the signals of the closed-loop system semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, an application oriented example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm.