Observer-based consensus in networks of discrete-time switched linear dynamics under a fixed topology

This paper considers the consensus problem of discrete-time switched linear multi-agent systems under a fixed communication topology. An observer-based protocol with sampled data is proposed for solving such a problem. Assume that the digraph has a directed spanning tree and that all switched subsystem of each agent are stabilisable and detectable. It is shown that the proposed protocol solves the consensus problem when the sampling period is sufficiently small and the average dwell time of the switching signal is sufficiently large. Moreover, to reduce the conservatism, a sufficient condition for consensus is obtained to design the feedback gain matrices and the observer gain matrices by linear matrix inequalities, which guarantee that consensus can be achieved when the sampling period and the average dwell time are in the general case. Finally, the effectiveness of the theoretical results is demonstrated through an example.     

Non-fragile robust optimal guaranteed cost control of uncertain 2-D discrete state-delayed systems

This paper is concerned with the problem of non-fragile robust optimal guaranteed cost control for a class of uncertain two-dimensional (2-D) discrete state-delayed systems described by the general model with norm-bounded uncertainties. Our attention is focused on the design of non-fragile state feedback controllers such that the resulting closed-loop system is asymptotically stable and the closed-loop cost function value is not more than a specified upper bound for all admissible parameter uncertainties and controller gain variations. A sufficient condition for the existence of such controllers is established under the linear matrix inequality framework. Moreover, a convex optimisation problem is proposed to select a non-fragile robust optimal guaranteed cost controller stabilising the 2-D discrete state-delayed system as well as achieving the least guaranteed cost for the resulting closed-loop system. The proposed method is compared with the previously reported criterion. Finally, illustrative examples are given to show the potential of the proposed technique.     

Simultaneous fault detection and control for switched systems with actuator faults

This paper is concerned with the fault detection and control problem for discrete-time switched systems. The actuator faults, especially ‘outage cases’, are considered. The detector/controller is designed simultaneously such that the closed-loop system switches under an average dwell time, and when a fault is detected, an alarm is generated and then the controller is switched to allow the norm of the states of the subsystem to increase within the acceptable limits. Thus, a switching strategy which combines average dwell time switching with event-driven switching is proposed. Under this switching strategy, the attention is focused on designing the detector/controller such that estimation errors between residual signals and faults are minimised for the fulfillment of fault detection objectives; simultaneously, the closed-loop system becomes asymptotically stable for the fulfillment of control objectives. A two-step procedure is adopted to obtain the solutions through satisfying a set of linear matrix inequalities. An example comprising of three cases is considered. Through these cases, it is demonstrated that the fault detection and control for switched systems using a two-stage switching strategy and asynchronous switching are feasible.     

Fuzzy distributed cooperative tracking for a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles with heterogeneous goals

This article proposes a systematic analysis for a tracking problem which ensures cooperation amongst a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), modelled as nonlinear systems with linear and angular velocity constraints, in order to achieve different goals. A distributed Takagi–Sugeno (TS) framework design is adopted for the representation of the nonlinear model of the dynamics of the UAVs. The distributed control law which is introduced is composed of both node and network level information. Firstly, feedback gains are synthesised using a parallel distributed compensation (PDC) control law structure, for a collection of isolated UAVs; ignoring communications among the swarm. Then secondly, based on an alternation-like procedure, the resulting feedback gains are used to determine Lyapunov matrices which are utilised at network level to incorporate into the control law, the relative differences in the states of the vehicles, and to induce cooperative behaviour. Eventually stability is guaranteed for the entire swarm. The control synthesis is performed using tools from linear control theory: in particular the design criteria are posed as linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). An example based on a UAV tracking scenario is included to outline the efficacy of the approach.     

H∞ state estimation of generalised neural networks with interval time-varying delays

This paper focuses on studying the H_∞ state estimation of generalised neural networks with interval time-varying delays. The integral terms in the time derivative of the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional are handled by the Jensen’s inequality, reciprocally convex combination approach and a new Wirtinger-based double integral inequality. A delay-dependent criterion is derived under which the estimation error system is globally asymptotically stable with H_∞ performance. The proposed conditions are represented by linear matrix inequalities. Optimal H_∞ norm bounds are obtained easily by solving convex problems in terms of linear matrix inequalities. The advantage of employing the proposed inequalities is illustrated by numerical examples.     

A new approach to robust reliable H∞ control for uncertain nonlinear systems

This paper focuses on the optimal robust reliable H_∞ control for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with actuator faults. A new method of annihilating uncertain matrix is proposed. Based on this approach, a new method of disposing of the phenomenon of uncertain matrices multiplication is provided. In accordance with the method, the optimal robust reliable H_∞ control problem for uncertain nonlinear systems is settled by employing state feedback, in terms of linear matrix inequality (LMI). Finally, two illustrative examples are given to show the feasibility and validity of the proposed method.     

Reaching a consensus in networks of high-order integral agents under switching directed topologies

Consensus problem of high-order integral multi-agent systems under switching directed topology is considered in this study. Depending on whether the agent’s full state is available or not, two distributed protocols are proposed to ensure that states of all agents can be convergent to a same stationary value. In the proposed protocols, the gain vector associated with the agent’s (estimated) state and the gain vector associated with the relative (estimated) states between agents are designed in a sophisticated way. By this particular design, the high-order integral multi-agent system can be transformed into a first-order integral multi-agent system. Also, the convergence of the transformed first-order integral agent’s state indicates the convergence of the original high-order integral agent’s state, if and only if all roots of the polynomial, whose coefficients are the entries of the gain vector associated with the relative (estimated) states between agents, are in the open left-half complex plane. Therefore, many analysis techniques in the first-order integral multi-agent system can be directly borrowed to solve the problems in the high-order integral multi-agent system. Due to this property, it is proved that to reach a consensus, the switching directed topology of multi-agent system is only required to be ‘uniformly jointly quasi-strongly connected’, which seems the mildest connectivity condition in the literature. In addition, the consensus problem of discrete-time high-order integral multi-agent systems is studied. The corresponding consensus protocol and performance analysis are presented. Finally, three simulation examples are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

The other side of ranking schemes: generating weights for specified outcomes

This paper treats the problem of how to determine weights in a ranking, which will cause a selected entity to attain the highest possible position. We establish that there are two types of entities in a ranking scheme: those which can be ranked as number one and those which cannot. These two types of entities can be identified using the “ranking hull” of the data; a polyhedral set that envelops the data. Only entities with data points on the boundary of this hull can attain the number one position. There are no weights that will make an entity whose data point is in the interior of the hull to ever attain the number one position. We deal with these two types of entities separately. In the first case, we propose an approach for finding a set of weights that, under special conditions, will result in a selected entity achieving the top of the ranking without ties and without ignoring any of the attributes. For the second category of entities, we devise a procedure to guarantee that these entities will attain their highest possible position in the ranking. The first case will require using interior point methods to solve a linear program (LP). The second case involves a binary mixed integer formulation. These two mathematical programs were tested on data from a well‐known university ranking.