Adaptive finite-time consensus in multi-agent networks

This paper is concerned with the finite-time consensus problem of distributed agents having non-identical unknown nonlinear dynamics, to a leader agent that also has unknown nonlinear control input signal. By parameterization of unknown nonlinear dynamics, a Lyapunov technique in conjunction with homogeneity technique is presented for designing a decentralized adaptive finite-time consensus control protocol in undirected networks. Homogeneous Lyapunov functions and homogeneous vector fields are introduced in the stability analysis although the whole system is not homogeneous. Theoretical analysis shows that leader-following consensus can be achieved in finite-time, meanwhile, finite-time parameter convergence can be also guaranteed under the proposed control scheme. An example is given to validate the theoretical results.     

Finite-time consensus for multi-agent networks with unknown inherent nonlinear dynamics

The objective of this paper is to analyze the finite-time convergence of a nonlinear but continuous consensus algorithm for multi-agent networks with unknown inherent nonlinear dynamics. Due to the existence of the unknown inherent nonlinear dynamics, the stability analysis and the finite-time convergence analysis are more challenging than those under the well-studied consensus algorithms for known linear systems. For this purpose, we propose a novel comparison based tool. By using this tool, it is shown that the proposed nonlinear consensus algorithm can guarantee finite-time convergence if the directed switching interaction graph has a directed spanning tree at each time interval. Specifically, the finite-time convergence is shown by comparing the closed-loop system under the proposed consensus algorithm with some well-designed closed-loop system whose stability properties are easier to obtain. Moreover, the stability and the finite-time convergence of the closed-loop system using the proposed consensus algorithm under a (general) directed switching interaction graph can even be guaranteed by the stability and the finite-time convergence of some well-designed nonlinear closed-loop system under some special directed switching interaction graph. This provides a stimulating example for the potential applications of the proposed comparison based tool in the stability analysis of linear/nonlinear closed-loop systems by making use of known results in linear/nonlinear systems.     

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.     

Periodic intermittent consensus of second-order agents networks with nonlinear dynamics

The consensus problem for a class of second-order agents networks via periodically intermittent control is investigated in this paper. A novel protocol is designed by periodic intermittent measurements and directed topology. Based on algebraic graph theory, matrix theory and Lyapunov control approach, some sententious conditions are obtained for reaching consensus in agents networks with fixed topology. Finally, one example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.     

Leader-following consensus of nonlinear fractional-order multi-agent systems via event-triggered control

This paper investigates the consensus problem of leader-following multi-agent systems with fractional-order nonlinear dynamics. A typical event is defined as some error signals exceeding a given threshold. By applying Lyapunov functional approach and skills of computing function limit, consensus of the controlled multi-agent systems can be reached asymptotically. Meanwhile, the event-triggered algorithm can exclude Zeno behaviours. Finally, a numerical simulation is exploited to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical result.     

Leader-following consensus of nonlinear multi-agent systems with switching topologies and unreliable communications

In this paper, distributed leader-following consensus for a class of nonlinear multi-agent systems with switching topologies and unreliable communications is studied. Each possible topology contains a directed spanning tree rooted at the leader. Agents share the information only with their neighbors on some disconnected time intervals due to the unreliable communications. By designing suitable distributed controllers, all follower nodes asymptotically synchronize to the leader node if the communication rate is larger than a threshold value for each time interval. By using multiple Lyapunov functions theory and linear matrix inequalities technique, some sufficient conditions are given to guarantee the consensus. Moreover, based on the theoretical results, the admissible communication rate and convergence rate of the whole systems are adjusted by the feedback gain matrix, which provides helpful design guidelines in practical applications. Finally, a simulation example is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Quantised consensus of multi-agent systems with nonlinear dynamics

This paper studies the consensus problem of first-order and second-order multi-agent systems with nonlinear dynamics and quantised interactions. Continuous-time and impulsive control inputs are designed for the multi-agent systems on the logarithmic quantised relative state measurements of agents, respectively. By using nonsmooth analysis tools, we get some sufficient conditions for the consensus of multi-agent systems under the continuous-time inputs. Compared with continuous-time control inputs, impulsive distributed control inputs just use the state variables of the systems at discrete-time instances. Based on impulsive control theory, we prove that the multi-agent systems can reach consensus by choosing proper control gains and impulsive intervals. The simulation results are given to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical results.     

Impulsive consensus algorithms for second-order multi-agent networks with sampled information

In this paper, the distributed consensus problem for second-order continuous-time multi-agent networks with sampled-data communication is investigated. Motivated by impulsive control strategy, two kinds of impulsive distributed consensus algorithm are proposed. These algorithms only utilize the sampled information and are implemented at sampled times. By using the stability theory of impulsive systems and properties of the Laplacian matrix, necessary and sufficient conditions are obtained to ensure the consensus of the controlled networks. It is shown that the control gains, the sampling period and the eigenvalues of the Laplacian matrix of the communication graph play key roles in achieving the consensus. A numerical example is given to illustrate the results.     

Distributed finite-time consensus tracking for nonlinear multi-agent systems with a time-varying reference state

This paper investigates the consensus tracking problem for nonlinear multi-agent systems with a time-varying reference state. The consensus reference is taken as a virtual leader, whose output is only its position information that is available to only a subset of a group of followers. The dynamics of each follower consists of two terms: nonlinear inherent dynamics and a simple communication protocol relying only on the position of its neighbours. In this paper, the consensus tracking problem is respectively considered under fixed and switching communication topologies. Some corresponding sufficient conditions are obtained to guarantee the states of followers can converge to the state of the virtual leader in finite time. Rigorous proofs are given by using graph theory, matrix theory, and Lyapunov theory. Simulations are presented to illustrate the theoretical analysis.     

Leader-following consensus of double-integrator multi-agent systems with noisy measurements

This paper proposes a leader-following consensus control for continuous-time double-integrator multi-agent systems in noisy communication environment with a constant velocity reference state. Each follower in the team inaccurately measures its neighbors’ positions and the leader’s position if this follower has access to the leader, that the measured positions are corrupted by noises. The constant velocity of the leader is a priori well known. The consensus protocol is constructed based on algebraic graph theory and some stochastic tools. Conditions to ensure the tracking consensus in mean square are derived for both fixed and switching directed topologies. Finally, to illustrate the approach presented, some numerical simulations are carried out.     

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.     

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.     

Adaptive second-order consensus of networked mobile agents with nonlinear dynamics

We investigate second-order consensus of multiple nonlinear dynamical mobile agents with a virtual leader in a dynamic proximity network. We assume that only a small fraction of agents in the group have access to the information about the position and velocity of the virtual leader through, for example, certain pre-designed communication mechanism such as wireless broadcasting or sensing. To avoid fragmentation, we propose a connectivity-preserving second-order consensus algorithm. Under the assumption that the initial network is connected, we introduce local adaptation strategies for both the weights on the velocity navigational feedback and the velocity coupling strengths that enable all agents to synchronize with the virtual leader even when only one agent is informed, without requiring any knowledge of the agent dynamics. We finally provide some convincing simulation results to illustrate the theoretical results.     

Leader-following consensus of nonlinear multi-agent systems with randomly occurring uncertainties and stochastic disturbances under impulsive control input

This paper focuses on the leader-following consensus problem of nonlinear multi-agent systems with randomly occurring uncertainties and stochastic disturbances under impulsive control input. Based on the average impulsive interval, a unified consensus criterion is derived for multi-agent systems. On the other hand, our consensus criterion is applicable to impulsive control sequences in which the lower bound of impulsive interval is allowed to be arbitrarily small and the upper bound of impulsive interval is allowed to be big enough. The proposed consensus criterion is theoretically and numerically proved to be less conservative than existing results. Two numerical simulations illustrate the effectiveness of theoretical results.     

Output consensus control of multi-agent systems with nonlinear non-minimum phase dynamics

This paper considers the output consensus problem in non-minimum phase nonlinear multi-agent systems. The main contribution of the paper is to guarantee achieving consensus in the presence of unstable zero dynamics. To achieve this goal, a consensus protocol consisting of two terms is proposed. The first term is a linear function of the states of each agent employed in order to overcome the non-minimum phase dynamics, and the second term is a function of the output of neighbouring agents which provides coupling among agents and guarantees output consensus in the network. The asymptotic stability of output consensus errors and the boundedness of the states of agents are also studied. A numerical example is presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Leader-following consensus of multi-agent systems under fixed and switching topologies

The leader-following consensus problem of higher order multi-agent systems is considered. In the system, the dynamics of each agent and the leader is a linear system. The control of each agent using local information is designed and detailed analysis of the leader-following consensus is presented for both fixed and switching interaction topologies, which describe the information exchange between the multi-agent systems. The design technique is based on algebraic graph theory, Riccati inequality and Lyapunov inequality. Simulations indicate the capabilities of the algorithms.     

Leader-following consensus of fractional-order multi-agent systems via adaptive pinning control

In this paper, the leader-following consensus problem of fractional-order multi-agent systems is considered via adaptive pinning control. The dynamics of leader and all followers with linear and nonlinear functions are investigated, respectively. We assume that the node should be pinned if its in-degree is less than its out-degree in the paper. Under this assumption and based on the stability theory of fractional-order differential systems, some leader-following consensus criteria are derived, which are easily obtained by matrix inequalities. The control of each agent using local information is designed and detailed analysis of the leader-following consensus is presented. The design technique is based on algebraic graph theory and the Riccati inequality. Several simulation examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Consensus of second-order multi-agent systems with delayed nonlinear dynamics and aperiodically intermittent communications

In this paper, we investigate the consensus problem for second-order multi-agent systems with inherent delayed nonlinear dynamics and aperiodically intermittent communication. First, different from previous works, aperiodically intermittent communication is proposed. Moreover, two types of delay are considered. The first case is that the delay is small enough so that it is less than the minimum of communication width. The other one is that the delay is time-varying and large, and in this case, we do not restrict the delay less than the communication width. Different approaches are provided to study these two cases, and some conditions are obtained to achieve second-order consensus under a fixed strongly connected and balanced topology. Finally, a simulation example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Distributed optimal consensus of second-order multi-agent systems

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