Two consensus problems for discrete-time multi-agent systems with switching network topology

In this paper, we study both the leaderless consensus problem and the leader-following consensus problem for linear discrete-time multi-agent systems under switching network topology. Under the assumption that the system matrix is marginally stable, we show that these two consensus problems can be solved via the state feedback protocols, provided that the dynamic graph is jointly connected. Our result will contain several existing results as special cases. The proof is based on the stability analysis of a class of linear discrete-time switched systems which may have some independent interest.     

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.     

Cooperative global output regulation of heterogeneous second-order nonlinear uncertain multi-agent systems

In this paper, we study the cooperative global output regulation problem for a class of heterogeneous second order nonlinear uncertain multi-agent systems. We first introduce a type of distributed internal model that converts the cooperative global output regulation problem into the global robust stabilization problem of the so-called augmented multi-agent system. Then we further globally stabilize this augmented multi-agent system via a distributed state feedback control law, thus leading to the solution of the original problem. A special case of our result leads to the solution of the global leader-following consensus problem for the second order nonlinear multi-agent systems without satisfying the global Lipschitz condition.     

线性多智能体系统在固定和切换拓扑下的领航跟随控制

研究线性多智能体系统的领航跟随一致性问题. 假设每个多智能体系统只能得到其邻域的输出测量信息, 在此条件下, 讨论多智能体在有向固定网络拓扑和无向切换网络拓扑两种情况下的一致性问题. 针对这两种情况, 提出含有一种分布式观测器的一致性控制算法. 应用Lyapunov 稳定性理论证明了若单个多智能体系统是可镇定和可检测的, 且网络连接拓扑只需满足简单的结构, 则系统能够达到领航跟随一致性. 仿真结果验证了理论分析的正确性.     

自适应事件触发的马尔科夫跳变多智能体系统一致性

针对非线性马尔科夫跳变多智能体系统在有向固定拓扑下的领导跟随一致性问题,为减少智能体间不必要的通信传输,节约网络资源,保证系统性能,提出一种自适应事件触发控制策略.首先,将每一个智能体均视为马尔科夫跳变系统,且马尔科夫链的转移概率部分未知;通过简单的模型转换建立误差系统,将多智能体系统一致性问题转化为误差系统的稳定性问题;在此基础上,构造合适的Lyapunov-Krasovskii泛函并利用Jensen不等式和线性矩阵不等式等技术给出使多智能体系统达到领导跟随一致性的充分条件及控制器设计方法;通过求解线性矩阵不等式可以得到多智能体系统一致性控制器增益矩阵和事件触发参数矩阵;最后,通过数值仿真验证所提出方法的有效性.     

Leader-following fixed-time output feedback consensus for second-order multi-agent systems with input saturation

This paper investigates the leader-following fixed-time output feedback consensus problem for second-order multi-agent systems with input saturation. By combing fixed-time control technique and bi-limit homogeneous systems theory, a class of bounded fixed-time consensus protocols are developed for leader-following multi-agent systems. The protocol design is divided into two parts. First, when all the state information of the followers are measurable, a state feedback consensus protocol is designed to achieve fixed-time consensus. Then, when the velocity information is unmeasurable, an observer-based fixed-time consensus protocol is proposed. With the help of Lyapunov stability theorem and the property of a homogeneous function, it is theoretically shown that the states of all followers can track that of the leader in fixed-time in the presence of input saturation. Finally, numerical simulation is carried out to illustrate the effectiveness of theoretical results.     

Reduced-order consensus controllers for output-coupled SISO linear systems

In this paper, we continue the study of the consensus problem for multi-agent linear dynamic systems. All the agents have identical linear dynamics which can be of any order, and only the output information of each agents is delivered throughout the communication network. Under these settings, we show that the first-order and the second-order consensus problems can be solved by a first-order and a second-order dynamic filter, respectively. This holds even for high order dynamics, and therefore, the high order system does not have to use a high order consensus controller.     

Adaptive tracking control of leader-following linear multi-agent systems with external disturbances

In this paper, the consensus problem for leader-following linear multi-agent systems with external disturbances is investigated. Brownian motions are used to describe exogenous disturbances. A distributed tracking controller based on Riccati inequalities with an adaptive law for adjusting coupling weights between neighbouring agents is designed for leader-following multi-agent systems under fixed and switching topologies. In traditional distributed static controllers, the coupling weights depend on the communication graph. However, coupling weights associated with the feedback gain matrix in our method are updated by state errors between neighbouring agents. We further present the stability analysis of leader-following multi-agent systems with stochastic disturbances under switching topology. Most traditional literature requires the graph to be connected all the time, while the communication graph is only assumed to be jointly connected in this paper. The design technique is based on Riccati inequalities and algebraic graph theory. Finally, simulations are given to show the validity of our method.     

A Novel Leader-following Consensus of Multi-agent Systems with Smart Leader

This article studies the leader-following consensus problem for mixed-order multi-agent systems with a leader. Different from the traditional leader which is independent of all the other agents, the leader, called smart leader, can obtain and utilize the feedback information from its neighbors at some disconnected time intervals. A new distributed consensus control protocol based on intermittent control is developed for leader-following consensus with a smart leader. Moreover, the smart leader can adjust the control protocol based on the feedback information from its neighbors. With the aid of Lyapunov function, some sufficient conditions are derived for leader-following consensus of multi-agent systems with mixed-order dynamics under fixed directed topology. In addition, the similar results are obtained under switching directed topology. Finally, simulation results are provided to verify the correctness and effectiveness of theoretical results.     

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.     

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.     

Leader-following Cluster Consensus in Multi-agent Systems with Intermittence

In this paper, the cluster consensus problem of first-order nonlinear multi-agent systems with aperiodic intermittent communication is studied through pinning leader-following approach. The pinning consensus algorithm based on the relative local intermittent information is designed according to the varies linking ways of clustered network structure. New notions of leading intermittence and inter-cluster intermittence which related to the intermittent linking ways of leader-following clustered structure are developed, and several new systems with intermittence are established due to the new notions. Besides, dynamics with inherent delay are also considered to extend our results to a more general framework. The original communication graph without intermittent pattern is supposed to be directed and weakly connected. Some consensus criteria are derived to guarantee that the cluster consensus problem for the systems with intermittent communication can be solved. Finally, numerical simulations are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.     

Adaptive leader-following rendezvous and flocking for a class of uncertain second-order nonlinear multi-agent systems

In this paper, we study the leader-following rendezvous and flocking problems for a class of second-order nonlinear multi-agent systems, which contain both external disturbances and plant uncertainties. What differs our problems from the conventional leader-following consensus problem is that we need to preserve the connectivity of the communication graph instead of assuming the connectivity of the communication graph. By integrating the adaptive control technique, the distributed observer method and the potential function method, the two problems are both solved. Finally, we apply our results to a group of van der Pol oscillators.     

Consensus of high-order multi-agent systems with large input and communication delays

We study in this paper the consensus problem for multi-agent systems with agents characterized by high-order linear systems with time delays in both the communication network and inputs. Provided that the open-loop dynamics of the agents is not exponentially unstable, but may be polynomially unstable, and the communication topology contains a directed spanning tree, a truncated predictor feedback approach is established to solve the consensus problem. It is shown that, if the delays are constant and exactly known, the consensus problems can be solved by both full state feedback and observer based output feedback protocols for arbitrarily large yet bounded delays. If it is further assumed that the open-loop dynamics of the agents only contains zero eigenvalues, the delays are allowed to be time-varying and unknown. Numerical examples are worked out to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.     

Distributed Coordination of Heterogeneous Multi-agent Systems with Dynamic Quantization and L2 − L∞ Control

International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems - This paper studies the dynamic output feedback consensus control problem of linear heterogeneous multi-agent systems under the...     

Leader-following consensus of linear discrete-time multi-agent systems subject to jointly connected switching networks

In this paper, we further study the leader-following consensus problem for a class of linear discrete-time multi-agent systems subject to jointly connected switching digraphs. We first establish a stability result for a class of linear switched systems under a more relaxed assumption than those in the literature. Then, we apply this stability result to obtain the solution to our problem, which contains previous results as special cases. Finally, we apply our result to an example that cannot be handled by any existing result.     

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 consensus control of leader-following systems with transmission nonlinearities

In this paper, the leader-following consensus problem of multi-agent systems is studied. It is assumed that there exist gain and bias transmission nonlinearities in the links in the communication network. Two distributed adaptive control schemes, where the transmission nonlinearities are compensated, are designed to guarantee that the consensus problem is solved and synchronisation errors are cooperatively uniformly and ultimately bounded. By using Lyapunov stability theory, the stability of closed-loop system is proven. The effectiveness of the proposed control methods is demonstrated by simulation results.     

Robust asymptotic model matching and its application to output synchronization of heterogeneous multi-agent systems

Output synchronization of heterogeneous multi-agent systems has been one of the most interesting cooperative control problems. This paper first gives a brief survey of the research on the problem from which we see that the problem can be solved in a two-step manner with the aid of a properly designed local reference for each agent: (i) a controller is designed for each agent to achieve the trajectory regulation of the agent output to its associated reference; (ii) network collaboration is added to achieve consensus among references. In the presence of system uncertainties, the robust trajectory regulation problem in (i) can be solved by an internal model design. In this paper, we formulate a novel robust asymptotic model matching problem which is less conservative than trajectory regulation and can be solved by a static controller not relying on an internal model. Moreover, network collaboration is designed in (ii) within the so-called output communication setting such that consensus among references occurs concurrently with robust asymptotic model matching. As a result, output synchronization of heterogeneous multi-agent systems is achieved with a novel approach.     

Distributed Self-triggered Control for Consensus of Multi-agent Systems

This paper studies the consensus problem of general linear multi-agent systems via self-triggered control. Two distributed self-triggered control schemes based on state feedback and output feedback are developed respectively. It is shown that under the proposed control protocols, consensus can be reached if the communication graph of the multi-agent system is connected. An example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control methods.