Containment control of stochastic multiagent systems with semi‐Markovian switching topologies

The containment control of stochastic multiagent systems with semi‐Markov switching topologies is investigated in this paper. The general case that the distribution function of the sojourn time is dependent on both the current system mode and the target mode is considered. Taking state multiplicative noise into account and using stochastic techniques, sufficient conditions to achieve the containment control in the asymptotic mean square sense are obtained in a form of linear matrix inequalities and the controller design condition is given. Finally, a simulation is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results.     

Output consensus for heterogeneous multiagent systems with Markovian switching network topologies

This paper investigates the output consensus problem of heterogeneous continuous‐time multiagent systems under randomly switching communication topologies. The switching mechanism is governed by a time‐homogeneous Markov process, whose states correspond to all possible communication topologies among agents. A novel dynamic consensus controller is proposed. The controller gains are designed based on the information of the expectation graph and the solutions to regulator equations. Furthermore, a necessary and sufficient condition is presented for output consensus of the controlled multiagent system in mean square sense. Finally, a simulation example is provided to corroborate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.     

Sampled‐data consensus of nonlinear multiagent systems subject to cyber attacks

This paper is concerned with the sampled‐data consensus problem for a class of nonlinear multiagent systems subject to cyber attacks. The considered attacks are assumed to be recoverable, which destroy the connectivity of the network topology with directed spanning tree. In light of the designed sampled‐data control protocol, a more general switched system is proposed to model both the cyber attacks and the sampled‐data mechanism within a unified framework. Then, by using the contradiction methods, the solution of a class of differential equations is provided to deal with the technical challenge resulting from the switching and sampling issues. Furthermore, in terms of such a solution combined with the constructed piecewise Lyapunov function, sufficient conditions are derived under which the nonlinear multiagent systems subject to attacks achieve the consensus exponentially. The relationship between the attack frequency and the sampling period is also revealed through the obtained conditions. Finally, simulations are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed results.     

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.     

Disturbance observer–based consensus tracking for nonlinear multiagent systems with switching topologies

This paper considers the leader‐follower consensus tracking problem for nonlinear multiagent systems with external disturbances and switching topologies. A distributed disturbance observer is constructed to estimate the disturbances suffered by the followers. Then, a distributed consensus protocol is proposed for the consensus tracking problem with disturbance rejection under a fixed directed topology based on the disturbance observer. Next, this result is extended to the case in which the switching communication topology only frequently but not always contains a directed spanning tree. By selecting the parameters appropriately such that the communication time satisfies various preset conditions, it is theoretically proven that the consensus tracking with disturbance rejection can also be achieved by the multiagent systems. Finally, a simulation example is presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed control scheme.     

Guaranteed‐performance consensus tracking of singular multiagent systems with Lipschitz nonlinear dynamics and switching topologies

In this paper, the problem of guaranteed‐performance consensus tracking of continuous‐time singular multiagent systems with Lipschitz nonlinearities and switching topologies is investigated. Consideration is that the interaction of the concerned agent network is described by a set of directed graphs with the union graph having a directed spanning tree rooted at the leader. To establish the guaranteed‐performance criterion, a quadratic performance function is constructed by utilizing the consensus errors among all agents. Then, a consensus protocol that collects the local information from neighboring agents is proposed to achieve consensus tracking and to guarantee the consensus regulation performance of the multiagent systems. On the basis of nonsingular transformation approach, singular systems theory, and Lyapunov stability analysis, the concerned guaranteed‐performance consensus tracking problem is cast into the admissibility analysis for an equivalent kind of switched singular consensus error system. Furthermore, sufficient conditions on the guaranteed‐performance consensus tracking protocol design are formulated in terms of linear matrix inequalities. Finally, numerical examples are employed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.     

Adaptive mean-square consensus of heterogeneous multiagent systems with stochastic switching topologies

The leader–following consensus of linear heterogeneous multiagent systems is investigated in this paper. To comply with the most practical scenario, the communicating topologies among agents are assumed to switch stochastically and driven by a continuous-time discrete-state Markov process, whose state space corresponds to all the possible topologies. A novel distributed adaptive compensator is designed for the followers to reconstruct the exogenous signals without knowing the Laplacian matrix who is regarded as a global information, and sufficient conditions are given to ensure the compensator converges to the dynamic of the leader asymptotically in the mean square sense. Then, based on the compensator, we solved the consensus problem both by distributed state and measurement output feedback control schemes under output regulation framework, which allow followers to have nonidentical state dimensions. Finally, the theoretical results are demonstrated by a numerical example.     

Event‐triggered output consensus for heterogeneous multiagent systems with fixed and switching directed topologies

This paper studies the event‐triggered output consensus problem of heterogeneous linear multiagent systems characterized via fixed and switching directed graphs. With proper state‐dependent triggering functions, two new event‐triggered output consensus control schemes are proposed for each agent to achieve consensus. Notably, under the proposed control protocols, continuous communication among agents is not required in both controllers updating and triggering threshold detection, which means being completely continuous communication free. The communication instances are reduced significantly, and the periodic or high‐frequency communication is restrained. It is also ensured that events cannot be triggered infinitely in finite time (ie, the Zeno behavior is elegantly avoided). Meanwhile, the simulation examples are given to illustrate the theoretical analysis.     

Sampled‐data consensus of multiagent systems with switching jointly connected topologies via time‐varying Lyapunov function approach

Consensus problem of multiagent systems with switching jointly connected topologies under sampled‐data control is studied in this article. The main contribution is that the consensus problem for such system is solved without the assumption that the system matrices are stable or critically stable. For this purpose, a time‐varying Lyapunov function method is utilized to describe the state characteristics with switching jointly connected topologies. Based on the time‐varying matrix of Lyapunov function, the “decline” characteristics at the switching instants is derived to compensate the divergence among the agents with disconnected topologies. Utilizing the “decline” characteristics, the overall consensus of such system can be guaranteed in the framework of dwell time. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed result is illustrated by two numerical examples.     

Event-triggered finite-time consensus of multiple Euler Lagrange systems under Markovian switching topologies

Finite-time consensus problem for multiple Euler Lagrange systems under Markovian switching topologies is investigated through an event-triggered control protocol. First, instead of the general stochastic topology, the graph of the entire system is governed by some Markov chains to the edge set, which can recover the traditional Markovian switching topologies in line with the practical communication environment. Then, by utilising an integral sliding-mode control strategy, rigorous analysis of finite-time consensus is performed through the graph theory and Lyapunov stability theory. An event-triggered communication law is delicately carried out for each agent, and Zeno behaviour of triggering time sequences is excluded absolutely. Finally, several simulation results on six two-link manipulators are given to verify the effectiveness of the designed control strategy.     

Formation control of singular multiagent systems with switching topologies

This paper is concerned with the time‐varying formation control problem for singular multiagent systems with switching topologies. First, in order to eliminate the pulse solution of singular systems and extend the formation function set, the distributed formation controller has been formulated based on the output information of the agents. Then, the explicit expression of formation position function is presented based on the impulse free and the equivalent transformation of singular multiagent systems. Next, the sufficient and necessary conditions of the feasibility of the formation function are provided. Moreover, the sufficient conditions of formation control of singular multiagent systems with switching topologies are presented and the algorithm is designed to solve the distributed controller. Finally, the validity of the proposed approaches is verified by numerical simulation in this paper.     

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.     

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.     

Robust node‐to‐node consensus of linear multiagent systems with directed switching topologies subject to uncertain pinning communications

This paper is focused on the node‐to‐node consensus problem of multiagent systems consisting of general linear node dynamics under directed switching topologies. Specifically, it is assumed that the multiagent systems under consideration have 2 layers, ie, leader layer and follower layer. When uncertainties on the pinning links between the 2 layers exist, the coordination goal is to present some robust control laws, which are distributed such that the states of each follower asymptotically converge to those of its corresponding leader. By using tools from M‐matrix theory and multiple Lyapunov methods, some sufficient criteria are derived to achieve this goal. Finally, 2 simulation examples are performed to validate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.     

Cooperative output regulation of heterogeneous multiagent systems based on event‐triggered control with fixed and switching topologies

This paper addresses the cooperative output regulation problem of multiagent systems with fixed and switching topologies. Each agent is a heterogeneous linear system, and the output of the exosystem can be available to only a subset of agents. For the agents that can directly access the exosystem, a common observer based on an event‐triggered strategy is constructed to estimate the exogenous signal for feedback control design. For the rest of the agents, estimators based on an event‐triggered mechanism to acquire the estimation value of the exogenous signal are designed under some essential assumptions. A decentralized event‐triggered formulation is considered first by applying a Lyapunov function for a fixed topology. Furthermore, a topology‐dependent triggering condition and the average dwell‐time switching law are deduced simultaneously by using multiple Lyapunov functions for switching topologies. Under communication constraints, we propose observer‐based and estimator‐based feedback controllers to solve the cooperative output regulation problem using available local information among agents. Two examples are finally provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed theoretical results.     

Further criterion for stochastic stability analysis of semi‐Markovian jump linear systems

This article is devoted to provide further criterion for stochastic stability analysis of semi‐Markovian jump linear systems (S‐MJLSs), in which more generic transition rates (TRs) will be studied. As is known, the time‐varying TR is one of the key issues to be considered in the analysis of S‐MJLS. Therefore, this article is to investigate general cases for the TRs that covered almost all types, especially for the type that the jumping information from one mode to another is fully unknown, which is merely investigated before. By virtue of stochastic functional theory, sufficient conditions are developed to check stochastic stability of the underlying systems via linear matrix inequalities formulation combined with a maximum optimization algorithm. Finally, a numerical example is given to verify the validity and effectiveness of the obtained results.     

Guaranteed‐cost consensus for multiagent networks with Lipschitz nonlinear dynamics and switching topologies

Guaranteed‐cost consensus for high‐order nonlinear multiagent networks with switching topologies is investigated. By constructing a time‐varying nonsingular matrix with a specific structure, the whole dynamics of multiagent networks is decomposed into the consensus and disagreement parts with nonlinear terms, which is the key challenge to be dealt with. An explicit expression of the consensus dynamics, which contains the nonlinear term, is given and its initial state is determined. Furthermore, by the structure property of the time‐varying nonsingular transformation matrix and the Lipschitz condition, the impacts of the nonlinear term on the disagreement dynamics are linearized, and the gain matrix of the consensus protocol is determined on the basis of the Riccati equation. Moreover, an approach to minimize the guaranteed cost is given in terms of linear matrix inequalities. Finally, the numerical simulation is shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of theoretical results.     

切换拓扑下非线性多智能体系统自适应神经网络一致性

本文研究一类具有未知控制系数的非线性多智能体系统自适应神经网络分布式控制策略.首先,针对切换拓扑下具有未知控制系数的非线性多智能体系统一致性问题,提出一类自适应神经网络一致性控制算法.其中,采用神经网络函数逼近方法解决系统中的不确定性问题,并设计一项自适应光滑项处理有界扰动和神经网络函数逼近误差.随后,证明了切换拓扑下具有未知控制系数的非线性多智能体系统的一致性,并保证了闭环系统的有界性.此外,本文把相关的一致性算法扩展到了一般有向图含有一个有向生成树的情形.最后,通过仿真实例验证了本文所提算法的有效性.     

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.     

Consensus of multiagent systems with random switching topologies and its application

This paper is concerned on the consensus problem of multiagent systems with random switching topologies, where the dwell time of each topology consists of fixed and random parts. Firstly, the consensus analysis of such multiagent systems is considered by a mode‐dependent Lyapunov function approach, whose conditions are developed in terms of linear matrix inequalities. Then, three kinds of consensus protocols based on random switching topologies are proposed, whose differences are also illustrated. Moreover, all the existence conditions of such consensus controllers are presented with solvable forms, where the dwell times and topology are both included and play important roles. Finally, the proposed consensus protocols are applied to a chemical process to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.