Second-Order Consensus for Multiagent Systems via Intermittent Sampled Position Data Control

Leader-Following Consensus of Linear Multiagent Systems With Aperiodically Sampled Outputs: A Distributed Impulsive-Observer-Based Approach

This article studies the leader-following consensus problem for a class of linear multiagent systems over a directed graph with aperiodically sampled outputs. First, a novel distributed impulsive-observer-based consensus protocol is designed. This protocol requires only the output measurements at sporadic time instants for the observer and control gain design. Second, by using time-varying Lyapunov function techniques, sufficient conditions for exponential stability of a class of linear impulsive systems are established; subsequently, these stability results are applied for the distributed impulsive observer design. Different from the existing related works, the impulsive observer gain designed in this work is decoupled from the graph properties. As a result, once the impulsive observer gain is designed for one network topology, it can be directly used for other network topologies, as long as the graph properties and the dynamics of local agents satisfy certain conditions. Furthermore, the resilience of the designed protocol is tested under denial of service (DoS) attacks. It is shown that the protocol is robust with respect to low-frequency DoS attacks occurring in the observer communication network. Finally, two examples illustrating the validity and effectiveness of the proposed protocol are included.

Fully distributed dynamic event-triggered formation-containment control for networked unmanned surface vehicles with intermittent wireless network communications

Favorable neighboring interactions and economical transmission costs are the foundations of formation-containment control (FCC), while the complex marine environments hamper its expansion on networked unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). In this context, this paper investigates an intermittent dynamic event-triggered control scheme for USVs experiencing communication interruptions to achieve FCC. Specifically, the control architecture consists of two synchronously working sub-layers. In the first layer, an intermittent communications-based formation tracking controller is initially developed to endow USVs with higher endurance against communication interruptions, such that the leader USVs can form a desired formation pattern while following a virtual leader. Meanwhile, a dynamic event-triggered mechanism (DETM) is incorporated into the intermittent controller to reduce the update frequency of control signals with computable minimum inter-event time (MIET). Similarly, an intermittent DETM-based controller is proposed for followers to achieve containment missions in the second layer. Moreover, the global information is unnecessary with time-varying control gains. Finally, the simulations are provided to verify the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed control scheme.

Distributed consensus of discrete time-varying linear multi-agent systems with event-triggered intermittent control

The consensus problem of discrete time-varying linear multi-agent systems (MASs) is studied in this paper. First, an event-triggered intermittent control (ETIC) protocol is designed, aided by a class of auxiliary functions. Under this protocol, some sufficient conditions for all agents to achieve consensus are established by constructing an error dynamical system and applying the Lyapunov function. Second, in order to further reduce the communication burden, an improved event triggered intermittent control (I-ETIC) strategy is presented, along with corresponding convergence analysis. Notably, the difference between the two control protocols lies in the fact that the former protocol only determines when to control or not based on the trigger conditions, while the latter, building upon this, designs new event trigger conditions for the update of the controller during the control stage. Finally, two numerical simulation examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

Sampled-data exponential consensus of multi-agent systems with Lipschitz nonlinearities

In this paper, the exponential consensus of leaderless and leader-following multi-agent systems with Lipschitz nonlinear dynamics is illustrated with aperiodic sampled-data control using a two-sided loop-based Lyapunov functional (LBLF). Firstly, applying input delay approach to reformulate the resulting sampled-data system as a continuous system with time-varying delay in the control input. A two-sided LBLF which captures the information on sampled-data pattern is constructed and the symmetry of the Laplacian matrix together with Newton-Leibniz formula have been employed to obtain reduced number of decision variables and decreased LMI dimensions for the exponential sampled-data consensus problem. Subsequently, an aperiodic sampled-data controller was designed to simplify and enhance stability conditions for computation and optimization purposes in the proposed approach. Finally, based on the controller design, simulation examples including the power system are proposed to illustrate the theoretical analysis, moreover, a larger sampled-data interval can be acquired by this method than other literature, thereby conserving bandwidth and reducing communication resources.

Observer-Based Dynamic Event-Triggered Semiglobal Bipartite Consensus of Linear Multi-Agent Systems With Input Saturation

Observer-based dynamic event-triggered semiglobal bipartite consensus (SGBC) is investigated for linear multi-agent systems (MASs) with input saturation under a competitive network. Based on the estimated relative information and low-gain feedback technology, distributed dynamic event-triggered control (DETC) protocols are proposed for solving the observer-based SGBC problems for MASs under a fixed topology and a jointly connected topology, respectively. It is turned out that the SGBC of MASs can be achieved under the proposed protocols. By using gauge transformation and the Lyapunov theory, the bipartite consensus conditions are obtained. Moreover, Zeno behaviors will be excluded. Finally, two simulation examples are presented to verify the theoretical results efficiently.

Bipartite Consensus for Second-Order Multiagent Systems With Matrix-Weighted Signed Network

The second-order scalar-weighted consensus problem of multiagent systems has been well explored. However, in some practical antagonistic interaction networks, the interdependencies of multidimensional states of the agents must be described by matrix coupling. In order to highlight the influence of matrix coupling in the antagonistic interaction network, we investigate the second-order matrix-weighted bipartite consensus problem on undirected structurally balanced signed networks. Under the proposed bipartite consensus protocol, an algebraic condition is obtained for achieving second-order bipartite consensus via utilizing matrix-valued Gauge transformation and stability theory. Then, using the obtained criteria, a more direct algebraic graph condition is given for reaching bipartite consensus. Besides, because of the existence of negative (positive) semidefinite connections, the matrix-weighted network may have clustering phenomena, which means that matrix weights play a critical role in achieving consensus. An algebraic graph condition for admitting cluster bipartite consensus is provided. By designing matrix weights in practical scenarios, the required number of clusters can be obtained. Finally, the theoretical results are verified by five simulation examples.

Consensus of Linear Multivariable Discrete-Time Multiagent Systems: Differential Privacy Perspective

Differential privacy, which has been widely applied in industries, is a privacy mechanism effective in preventing malicious entities from breaching the privacy of an individual participant. It is usually achieved by adding random variables in the data. This article investigates a class of multivariable discrete-time multiagent systems with ϵ -differential privacy preserved. A novel information-masking mechanism is proposed, in which the information of each state transmitted to different neighbors is obscured by adding independent random noises. Then, the mean-square consensus conditions, and the upper bound and lower bound of the convergence rate are obtained. Moreover, the conditions for the convergence rate reaching its upper bound are established. The results can be applied to the average mean-square consensus. In addition, a necessary and sufficient condition is presented under which agents can preserve the dynamics of agents ϵ -differentially private at any time instant.

Impulsive Communication With Full and Partial Information for Adaptive Tracking Consensus of Uncertain Second-Order Multiagent Systems

The uncertainty of dynamics is often unavoidable in practical applications especially for networked control systems while energy cost reduction is a perpetual issue for engineering. With this motivation, this article considers the adaptive tracking consensus problem of uncertain second-order multiagent systems via impulsive communication. The tracking consensus is achieved by designing proper adaptive control schemes with neural networks. Two control strategies are proposed for different cases. One considers that all state information is available while another considers only partial information can be used. Estimators equipped by followers are designed, which do not need any information about neighbors during the time interval without communication. Even though the estimators and followers are under control continuously over time, the communication among all agents is only permitted at impulsive instants. In such situations, some sufficient conditions to guarantee the estimation and convergence are obtained for both cases. It is proved that by the proposed adaptive schemes for uncertain multiagent systems, errors exist both for estimation and consensus due to uncertain dynamics and adaptive schemes. Numerical simulations, including a practical example, are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Intelligent Detection of Hazardous Goods Vehicles and Determination of Risk Grade Based on Deep Learning

Currently, deep learning has been widely applied in the field of object detection, and some relevant scholars have applied it to vehicle detection. In this paper, the deep learning EfficientDet model is analyzed, and the advantages of the model in the detection of hazardous good vehicles are determined. The adaptive training model is built based on the optimization of the training process, and the training model is used to detect hazardous goods vehicles. The detection results are compared with Cascade R-CNN and CenterNet, and the results show that the proposed method is superior to the other two methods in two aspects of computational complexity and detection accuracy. Simultaneously, the proposed method is suitable for the detection of hazardous goods vehicles in different scenarios. We make statistics on the number of detected hazardous goods vehicles at different times and places. The risk grade of different locations is determined according to the statistical results. Finally, the case study shows that the proposed method can be used to detect hazardous goods vehicles and determine the risk level of different places.

Consensus for Second-Order Discrete-Time Agents With Position Constraints and Delays

This article addresses a consensus problem of second-order discrete-time agents in general directed networks with nonuniform position constraints, switching topologies, and communication delays. A projection operation is performed to ensure the agents stay in some given convex sets, and a distributed algorithm is employed for the consensus achievement of all agents. The analysis approach is to use a linear transformation to convert the original system into an equivalent system and then merge the nonlinear error term into the convex null of the agents' states so as to prove the consensus convergence of the system based on the properties of the non-negative matrices. It is shown that all agents finally converge to a consensus point while their positions stay in the corresponding constraint sets as long as the union of the communication graphs among each certain time interval is strongly connected even when the communication delays are considered. Finally, numerical simulation examples are given to show the theoretical results.

Distributed Adaptive Output Feedback Consensus of Parabolic PDE Agents on Undirected Networks

In this article, we investigate the distributed adaptive consensus problem of parabolic partial differential equation (PDE) agents by output feedback on undirected communication networks, in which two cases of no leader and leader-follower with a leader are taken into account. For the leaderless case, a novel distributed adaptive protocol, namely, the vertex-based protocol, is designed to achieve consensus by taking advantage of the relative output information of itself and its neighbors for any given undirected connected communication graph. For the case of leader-follower, a distributed continuous adaptive controller is put forward to converge the tracking error to a bounded domain by using the Lyapunov function, graph theory, and PDE theory. Furthermore, a corollary that the tracking error tends to zero by replacing the continuous controller with the discontinuous controller is given. Finally, the relevant simulation results are further demonstrated to demonstrate the theoretical results obtained.

Consensus for Second-Order Multiagent Systems Under Two Types of Sampling Mechanisms: A Time-Varying Gain Observer Method

This article considers the consensus of second-order multiagent systems (MASs) under a directed communication topology. By introducing time-varying gains into observers, two types of novel continuous-discrete-time observers are presented to estimate state information of agents under two sampling mechanisms, respectively, namely: 1) a synchronous nonuniform sampling (SNS) mechanism and 2) an asynchronous nonuniform sampling (ANS) mechanism. A new design method of the time-varying gain observer is proposed, in that it can allow for one to select a consensus protocol with lower cost observers to attain the consensus task. Only sampled position information needs to be transmitted in designing consensus protocols for the MSAs, and neither velocity information nor control input information is required. Under the SNS mechanism, a consensus condition is obtained and it is shown that the introduction of time-varying gains in the observers indeed can improve their convergence. Under the ANS mechanism, the corresponding consensus protocol allows the sampling and transmission of different agents to be asynchronous and aperiodic, which means that each agent may sample and transmit its information in line with its own sampling requirements. Furthermore, each sampling period can be arbitrarily selected within a certain range while ensuring the consensus of the MASs. Finally, numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained results.

Distributed Adaptive Finite-Time Consensus for High-Order Multi-Agent Systems with Intermittent Communications under Switching Topologies

In this paper, a distributed adaptive finite-time consensus (FTC) control protocol for a high-order multi-agent system (MAS) with intermittent communications under switching topologies is proposed. Meanwhile, considering the problem of heterogeneous unknown nonlinearities and other uncertain disturbances, the adaptive neural network and the sliding mode control method are used to compensate the nonlinearity of each agent separately. The agents are homogeneous, so the system has symmetry. The switching topologies considered in this paper are asymmetric. Compared with consensus protocol for asymptotic convergence, simulation results show that the proposed method can effectively solve the presence of the nonlinear and accelerate the convergence speed of the system so that an FTC can be reached.

Intermittent Sampled-Data Control for Local Stabilization of Neural Networks Subject to Actuator Saturation: A Work-Interval-Dependent Functional Approach

This article is concerned with the local stabilization of neural networks (NNs) under intermittent sampled-data control (ISC) subject to actuator saturation. The issue is presented for two reasons: 1) the control input and the network bandwidth are always limited in practical engineering applications and 2) the existing analysis methods cannot handle the effect of the saturation nonlinearity and the ISC simultaneously. To overcome these difficulties, a work-interval-dependent Lyapunov functional is developed for the resulting closed-loop system, which is piecewise-defined, time-dependent, and also continuous. The main advantage of the proposed functional is that the information over the work interval is utilized. Based on the developed Lyapunov functional, the constraints on the basin of attraction (BoA) and the Lyapunov matrices are dropped. Then, using the generalized sector condition and the Lyapunov stability theory, two sufficient criteria for local exponential stability of the closed-loop system are developed. Moreover, two optimization strategies are put forward with the aim of enlarging the BoA and minimizing the actuator cost. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to exemplify the feasibility and reliability of the derived theoretical results.

Second-Order Consensus for Multiagent Systems With Switched Dynamics

This article investigates the consensus control problem for second-order multiagent systems with switched dynamics, consisting of a continuous-time subsystem and a discrete-time subsystem. Under a fixed directed topology, two linear control protocols are proposed for achieving consensus. One is that two subsystems use different control inputs, where the continuous-time system uses continuous-time control, and the discrete-time system uses discrete-time control. In order to reach consensus for this kind of control protocol, some necessary and sufficient conditions are derived. The other is to use the same control algorithm for the two subsystems, which is a sampled-data control input. Similar consensus conditions are also obtained. Finally, a few simulation examples are given to verify the theoretical results.

H∞ Control for Observer-Based Non-Negative Edge Consensus of Discrete-Time Networked Systems

This article is concerned with observer-based non-negative edge-consensus (OBNNEC) problems of networked discrete-time systems with or without actuator saturation. An algorithm which only uses actual outputs of neighboring edges is proposed by means of an H_∞ control method and modified algebraic Riccati equation (MARE)-based technique. The observer matrix and feedback matrix are constructed by solving the MARE and linear matrix inequality (LMI), respectively. Then, sufficient conditions for guaranteeing bounded inputs and non-negative edge states are derived. In addition, the low-gain characteristic of the MARE-based method is instrumental in guaranteeing non-negative edge states and deriving the feasible observer matrix and feedback matrix. Finally, two examples are shown to demonstrate the obtained theoretical results.

Output-Feedback Global Consensus of Discrete-Time Multiagent Systems Subject to Input Saturation via Q-Learning Method

This article proposes a Q -learning (QL)-based algorithm for global consensus of saturated discrete-time multiagent systems (DTMASs) via output feedback. According to the low-gain feedback (LGF) theory, control inputs of the saturated DTMASs can avoid the saturation by utilizing the control policies with LGF matrices, which were computed from the modified algebraic Riccati equation (MARE) by requiring the information of system dynamics in most previous works. However, in this article, we first find the lower bound on the real part of Laplacian matrices' nonzero eigenvalues of directed network topologies. Then, we define a test control input and propose a Q -function to derive a QL Bellman equation, which plays an essential part of the QL algorithm. Subsequently, different from the previous works, the output-feedback gain (OFG) matrix of this article can be obtained by limited iterations of the QL algorithm without requiring the information of agent dynamics and network topologies of the saturated DTMASs. Furthermore, the saturated DTMASs can achieve global consensus rather than the semiglobal consensus of the previous results. Finally, the effectiveness of the QL algorithm is confirmed via two simulations.

H∞ Scaled Consensus for MASs With Mixed Time Delays and Disturbances via Observer-Based Output Feedback

In this article, the H_∞ scaled consensus control problem for multiagent systems in the presence of external disturbances and mixed time delays in both input and Lipschitz nonlinearity is investigated. First, a state observer is introduced for each agent based on the output information of the agent. Then, a scaled consensus protocol is proposed via a truncated predictor output-feedback method, which can deal with the input delay. The integral terms with the mixed time delays that are contained in the transformed systems are analyzed by using the Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals method, and sufficient conditions are obtained to achieve scaled consensus with guaranteed H_∞ performance. An iterative procedure is utilized to calculate the linear matrix inequality. By this, the feedback gain and observer gain are then designed. Finally, a simulation example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

Finite-Time Consensus Tracking for Incommensurate Fractional-Order Nonlinear Multiagent Systems With Directed Switching Topologies

This article investigates the problem of finite-time consensus tracking for incommensurate fractional-order nonlinear multiagent systems (MASs) with general directed switching topology. For the leader with bounded but arbitrary dynamics, a neighborhood-based saturated observer is first designed to guarantee that the observer's state converges to the leader's state in finite time. By utilizing a fuzzy-logic system to approximate the heterogeneous and unmodeled nonlinear dynamics, an observer-based adaptive parameter control protocol is designed to solve the problem of finite-time consensus tracking of incommensurate fractional-order nonlinear MASs on directed switching topology with a restricted dwell time. Then, the derived result is further extended to the case of directed switching topology without a restricted dwell time by designing an observer-based adaptive gain control protocol. By artfully choosing a piecewise Lyapunov function, it is shown that the consensus tracking error converges to a small adjustable residual set in finite time for both the cases with and without a restricted dwell time. It should be noted that the proposed adaptive gain consensus tracking protocol is completely distributed in the sense that there is no need for any global information. The effectiveness of the proposed consensus tracking scheme is illustrated by numerical simulations.

Observer-Based Consensus Protocol for Directed Switching Networks With a Leader of Nonzero Inputs

We aim to address the consensus tracking problem for multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) linear networked systems under directed switching topologies, where the leader is subject to some nonzero but norm bounded inputs. First, based on the relative outputs, a full-order unknown input observer (UIO) is designed for each agent to track the full states' error among neighboring agents. With the aid of such an observer, a discontinuous feedback protocol is subtly designed. And it is proven that consensus tracking can be achieved in the closed-loop networked system if the average dwell time (ADT) for switching among different interaction graph candidates is larger than a given positive threshold. By using the boundary layer technique, a continuous feedback protocol is skillfully designed and employed. It is shown that the consensus error converges into a bounded set under the designed continuous protocol. Second, as part of the full states' error can be constructed via the agents' outputs, a reduced-order UIO is thus designed based on which discontinuous and continuous feedback protocols are, respectively, proposed. By using the stability theory of the switched systems, it is proven that the consensus error converges asymptotically to 0 under the designed discontinuous protocol, and converges into a bounded set under the designed continuous protocol. Finally, the obtained theoretical results are validated through simulations.

Adaptive Observer-Based Output Regulation of Multiagent Systems With Communication Constraints

In the absence of assuming that all agents know the system matrix of the external system, for heterogeneous linear multiagent systems (MASs), this article resolves the cooperative regulation problem in the presence of communication constraints. Based on the mild assumption on the digraph, two novel adaptive protocols are presented to solve the cooperative output regulation problem (ORP) via state feedback and measurement output feedback subject to snatchy and asynchronous information exchange between agents, unknown time-varying delays, and probable information losses. Finally, some simulations are offered to demonstrate the validity of our results about the problem.

Some necessary and sufficient conditions for containment of second-order multi-agent systems with intermittent sampled data

This paper comes up with two novel sampled data containment control protocols with intermittent communication for second-order multi-agent systems, where the intermittent communication is periodic. For the protocols with or without time delay, two necessary and sufficient conditions are obtained. In both cases, containment control can be implemented, where each follower can eventually reach the convex hull made up of multiple leaders. In particular, for the protocol with time delay, depending on the size of the time delay, two different conditions are obtained to achieve containment. More interestingly, the result that the smaller the time delay is, the easier it is to calculate the interval of the appropriate sampling period has been found. At last, the correctness of the theoretical results is verified by several simulations.

Consensus of Second-Order Hybrid Multiagent Systems by Event-Triggered Strategy

In this article, an event-triggered method is proposed to solve the consensus of the second-order hybrid multiagent systems (MASs), which contain discrete-time and continuous-time individuals. First, we give a selection criteria of the coupling gains, the eigenvalues of communication topology, and the event-triggered sampling interval to guarantee the hybrid consensus, which have an impact on system stability, due to the interaction and co-existence of discrete-time and continuous-time individuals. Second, the hybrid second-order consensus under the event-triggered strategy is proven, where the agents communicate with their neighbors and update their controllers only at the triggered instants. Finally, we give some simulation examples to prove the validity of the main results.

Coordination Control for Uncertain Networked Systems Using Interval Observers

In this article, we take the coordination control problem of linear time-invariant networked systems with uncertain additive disturbance and uncertain initial states into consideration. A distributed interval observer is first constructed for uncertain networked systems in which the control algorithm of each agent involves only the upper bound information and the lower bound information of the interval observer associated with itself and its neighbors, respectively. With the help of the cooperativity theory, it is proved that the interval observer can estimate the piecewise state for each agent and the interval-observer-based control algorithm can drive the uncertain system to achieve coordination behavior. Then, time-varying coordinate transformation is introduced to construct a novel interval observer which can eliminate the cooperativity premise on the system matrices and bound the states of all agents in real time. It is shown that the novel interval-observer-based control algorithm can guide the uncertain system to reach coordinated behavior. Finally, the numerical simulations are provided to verify the theoretical results.

Semiglobal Observer-Based Non-Negative Edge Consensus of Networked Systems With Actuator Saturation

The observer-based edge-consensus problem of networked continuous-time dynamical systems with edge state non-negative constraint and actuator saturation is considered in this paper. Based on line graph theory, low-gain output-feedback technique and algebraic Riccati equation (ARE)-based method, two edge-consensus algorithms are designed to achieve the observer-based edge consensus, in which the specific mathematical expressions of the two algorithms are obtained. Meanwhile, sufficient conditions are obtained to meet the bounded inputs and the non-negative edge states by combining with the ARE-based low-gain output-feedback technique and the positive system theory. Moreover, the feedback-gain and observer-gain matrices which must meet the sufficient conditions at the same time are existed and easy to obtain. Finally, two simulation cases are introduced to show the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

Controllability of heterogeneous multiagent systems with two-time-scale feature

In this paper, we investigate the controllability problems for heterogeneous multiagent systems (MASs) with two-time-scale feature under fixed topology. Firstly, the heterogeneous two-time-scale MASs are modeled by singular perturbation system with a singular perturbation parameter, which distinguishes fast and slow subsystems evolving on two different time scales. Due to the ill-posedness problems caused by the singular perturbation parameter, we analyze the two-time-scale MASs via the singular perturbation method, instead of the general methods. Then, we split the heterogeneous two-time-scale MASs into slow and fast subsystems to eliminate the singular perturbation parameter. Subsequently, according to the matrix theory and the graph theory, we propose some necessary/sufficient criteria for the controllability of the heterogeneous two-time-scale MASs. Lastly, we give some simulation and numerical examples to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed theoretical results.