Distributed impulsive control consensus for a class of unknown nonlinear multi-agent systems based on event-triggered scheme

In this study, we are concerned with the impulsive consensus control problem for a class of nonlinear multi-agent systems (MASs) which have unknown dynamics and directed communication topology. The neural networks (NNs) method is the first utilized to construct distributed event-triggered impulsive consensus protocol. In contrast to the existing impulsive consensus protocol, the consensus protocol proposed in this paper does not need the dynamics of agents, which enhances the system robustness, and realizes distributed event-triggered communication between agents, which can reduce unnecessary consumption of communication resources. Sufficient conditions are derived to ensure the consensus of the controlled MASs and the exclusion of Zeno-behavior. Finally, simulation examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control protocol.     

Asymptotic pinning synchronization of nonlinear multi-agent systems: Its application to tunnel diode circuit

This work proposes a pinning state-feedback control technique for synchronizing non-linear multi-agent systems (MASs) with time delays. A collection of switching-directed graphs describes the communication exchanges between all of the agents. The challenge of asymptotic stability analysis for some error systems is translated into the construction of a leader-following synchronization of the relevant MASs. The closed-loop system could be acquired by building a convenient Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional (LKF) that has two integral terms, and by using Kronecker product qualities combined with matrix inequality techniques. When these conditions are met, a state-feedback pinning controller can be built with linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), which can be derived easily from a number of efficient optimization algorithms. Further, the performance of the proposed control design system is verified based on a tunnel diode circuit (TDC) by numerical simulations.     

基于马尔科夫拓扑切换和随机通信干扰的连续时间多自主体系统的趋同控制

研究了基于不可靠通信网络的连续时间多自主体系统的趋同控制.自主体间的通信信道受高斯噪声干扰;不可靠通信因素导致的网络拓扑随机切换由马氏链刻画.为克服随机噪声和马尔科夫拓扑切换的影响,设计了随机逼近型趋同协议;基于马氏跳参数随机微分方程稳定性理论、代数图理论、连续鞅和马氏链理论,证明了多自主体系统实现渐近无偏均方平均趋同...     

Leaderless and leader-following consensus of multi-agent chaotic systems with unknown time delays and switching topologies

In this paper the distributed consensus problem for a class of multi-agent chaotic systems with unknown time delays under switching topologies and directed intermittent communications is investigated. Each agent is modeled as a general nonlinear system including many chaotic systems with or without time delays. Based on the Lyapunov stability theory and graph theory, some sufficient conditions guarantee the exponential convergence. A graph-dependent Lyapunov proof provides the definite relationship among the bound of unknown time delays, the admissible communication rate and each possible topology duration. Moreover, the relationship reveals that these parameters have impacts on both the convergence speed and control cost. The case with leader-following communication graph is also addressed. Finally, simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Consensus seeking in multi-agent systems via hybrid protocols with impulse delays

This paper studies the consensus problem of multi-agent systems with both fixed and switching topologies. A hybrid consensus protocol is proposed to take into consideration of continuous-time communications among agents and delayed instant information exchanges on a sequence of discrete times. Based on the proposed algorithms, the multi-agent systems with the hybrid consensus protocols are described in the form of impulsive systems or impulsive switching systems. By employing results from matrix theory and algebraic graph theory, some sufficient conditions for the consensus of multi-agent systems with fixed and switching topologies are established, respectively. Our results show that, for small impulse delays, the hybrid consensus protocols can solve the consensus problem if the union of continuous-time and impulsive-time interaction digraphs contains a spanning tree frequently enough. Simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed consensus protocols.     

Sampled-data-based consensus of multi-agent systems under asynchronous denial-of-service attacks

This paper investigates the sampled-data-based consensus problem of multi-agent systems (MASs) under asynchronous denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. In order to describe asynchronous DoS attacks, a new definition of complete DoS attack and novel double-layer switched systems are proposed. A complete DoS attack refers to a DoS attack that consists of several consecutive successful DoS attacks. While a successful DoS attack denotes an attack that can break the connected communication topology into several isolated subgraphs. Based on this, the original system is transformed into a double-layer switched systems with a stable mode and several unstable modes. It should be pointed out that each unstable subsystem is also composed of finite second-level unstable subsystems that represent consecutive successful DoS attacks. Moreover, a new double-mode-dependent Lyapunov function (DMDLF) method is employed to obtain the lower and upper bounds of the corresponding average dwell time (ADT) of subsystems. It is proved that the consensus of MASs under asynchronous DoS attacks can be achieved by using the feedback consensus controllers which can be designed simultaneously. Finally, an illustrative example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the results proposed in this paper.     

Tracking control for switched time-varying delays systems with stabilizable and unstabilizable subsystems

We investigate the tracking control problem for switched linear time-varying delays systems with stabilizable and unstabilizable subsystems. Sufficient conditions for the solvability of the tracking control problem are developed. The tracking control problem of a switched time-varying delays system with stabilizable and unstabilizable subsystems is solvable if the stabilizable and unstabilizable subsystems satisfy certain conditions and admissible switching law among them. Average dwell time approach and piecewise Lyapunov functional methods are utilized to the stability analysis and controller design. By introducing the integral controllers and free weighting matrix scheme, some restricted assumptions imposing on the switched systems are avoided. A simulation example shows the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Impulsive consensus of one-sided Lipschitz nonlinear multi-agent systems with Semi-Markov switching topologies

Many real systems involve not only parameter changes but also sudden variations in environmental conditions, which often causes unpredictable topologies switching. This paper investigates the impulsive consensus problem of the one-sided Lipschitz nonlinear multi-agent systems (MASs) with Semi-Markov switching topologies. Different from the existing modeling methods of the Markov chain, the Semi-Markov chain is adopted to describe this kind of randomly occurring changes reasonably. To cope with the communication and control cost constraints in the multi-agent systems, the distributed impulsive control method is applied to address the leader–follower consensus problem. Beyond that, to obtain a wider nonlinear application range, the one-sided condition is delicately developed to the controller design, and the results are different from the ones obtained in the traditional method with the Lipschitz condition (note that the existing results are usually only applicable to the case with small Lipschitz constant). Based on the characteristics of cumulative distribution functions, the theory of Lyapunov-like function and impulsive differential equation, the asymptotically mean square consensus of multi-agent systems is maintained with the proposed impulsive control protocol. Finally, an explanatory simulation is presented to validate the correctness of the proposed approach conclusively.     

Design of a robust tracker and disturbance attenuator for uncertain systems with time delays

This article considers the composite nonlinear feedback control method for robust tracker and disturbance attenuator design of uncertain systems with time delays. The proposed robust tracker improves the transient performance and steady state accuracy simultaneously. The asymptotic robust tracking conditions are provided in the form of linear matrix inequalities and the resultant conditions yield the controller gains. Moreover, to improve the reference tracking performance, a new nonlinear function for the composite feedback control law is offered. Simulation results are presented to verify the theoretical results. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 340–348, 2015     

Adaptive cooperative control of networked uncalibrated robotic systems with time‐varying communicating delays

This paper investigates the trajectory tracking control of the networked multimanipulator with the existence of time‐varying delays and uncertainties in both kinematics and dynamics. To address time‐varying delays in the communication links, a novel control scheme is established by the design of delay–rate‐dependent networking mutual coupling strengths. Besides, to handle the kinematic and dynamic uncertainties, an adaptive controller is designed. The proposed control scheme guarantees that the networked robotic system can track a commonly desired trajectory cooperatively with the strongly connected communication graph, uncertainties, and time‐varying communicating delays. A Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional is employed to rigorously prove the asymptotic convergence of both tracking errors and synchronization errors. The simulation results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the control method proposed by this paper.     

Early detection of vessel delays using combined historical and real-time information

In ocean transportation, detecting vessel delays in advance or in real time is important for fourth-party logistics (4PL) in order to fulfill the expectations of customers and to help customers reduce delay costs. However, the early detection of vessel delays faces the challenges of numerous uncertainties, including weather conditions, port congestion, booking issues, and route selection. Recently, 4PLs have adopted advanced tracking technologies such as satellite-based automatic identification systems (S-AISs) that produce a vast amount of real-time vessel tracking information, thus providing new opportunities to enhance the early detection of vessel delays. This paper proposes a data-driven method for the early detection of vessel delays: in our new framework of refined case-based reasoning (CBR), real-time S-AIS vessel tracking data are utilized in combination with historical shipping data. The proposed method also provides a process of analyzing the causes of delays by matching the tracking patterns of real-time shipments with those of historical shipping data. Real data examples from a logistics company demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Stability analysis for networked control systems with sampling,transmission protocols and input delays

In this paper, the stability problem is investigated for networked control systems. Input delays and multiple communication imperfections containing time-varying transmission intervals and transmission protocols are considered. A unified framework based on the hybrid systems with memory is proposed to model the whole networked control system. Hybrid systems with memory are used to model hybrid systems affected by delays and permit multiple jumps at a jumping instant. The stability analysis depends on the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional approaches for hybrid systems with memory and the proposed stability theorem does not need strict decrease of the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional during jumps. Based on the developed stability theorems, stability conditions for networked control systems are established. An explicit formula is given to compute the maximal allowable transmission interval. In the special case that the networked control system contains linear dynamics, an explicit Lyapunov functional is constructed and stability conditions in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMI) are proposed. Finally, an example of a chemical batch reactor is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed results.     

Nonfragile H∞ output tracking control for uncertain singular Markovian jump delay systems with network‐induced delays and data packet dropouts

This article deals with the problem of nonfragile H_∞ output tracking control for a kind of singular Markovian jump systems with time‐varying delays, parameter uncertainties, network‐induced signal transmission delays, and data packet dropouts. The main objective is to design mode‐dependent state‐feedback controller under controller gain perturbations and bounded modes transition rates such that the output of the closed‐loop networked control system tracks the output of a given reference system with the required H_∞ output tracking performance. By constructing a more multiple stochastic Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional, the novel mode‐dependent and delay‐dependent conditions are obtained to guarantee the augmented output tracking closed‐loop system is not only stochastically admissible but also satisfies a prescribed H_∞‐norm level for all signal transmission delays, data packet dropouts, and admissible uncertainties. Then, the desired state‐feedback controller parameters are determined by solving a set of strict linear matrix inequalities. A simple production system example and two numerical examples are used to verify the effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed methods. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 396–411, 2016     

Variable impulsive consensus of nonlinear multi-agent systems

In this paper, the consensus problem for nonlinear multi-agent systems with variable impulsive control method is studied. In order to decrease the communication wastage, a novel distributed impulsive protocol is designed to achieve consensus. Compared with the common impulsive consensus method with fixed impulsive instants, the variable impulsive consensus method proposed in this paper is more flexible and reliable in practical application. Based on Lyapunov stability theory and some inequality techniques, several novel impulsive consensus conditions are obtained to realize the consensus of multi-agent systems. Finally, some necessary simulations are performed to validate the effectiveness of theoretical results.     

Controllability analysis of linear time-varying systems with multiple time delays and impulsive effects

In this paper, the issue of controllability for linear time-varying systems with multiple time delays in the control and impulsive effects is addressed. The solution of such systems based on the variation of parameters is derived. Several sufficient and necessary algebraic conditions for two kinds of controllability, i.e., controllability to the origin and controllability, are derived. The relation among these conditions are established. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.     

Exponential stability and applications of switched positive linear impulsive systems with time-varying delays and all unstable subsystems

The global uniform exponential stability of switched positive linear impulsive systems with time-varying delays and all unstable subsystems is studied in this paper, which includes two types of distributed time-varying delays and discrete time-varying delays. Switching behaviors dominating the switched systems can be either stabilizing and destabilizing in the new designed switching sequence. We design new linear programming algorithm process to find the feasible ratio of stabilizing switching behaviors, which can be compensated by unstable subsystems, destabilizing switching behaviors, and impulses. Specically, we add a kind of nonnegative impulses which is consistent with the switching behaviors for the systems. Employing a multiple co-positive Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, we present several new sufficient stability criteria and design new switching sequence. Then, we apply the obtained stability criteria to the exponential consensus of linear delayed multi-agent systems, and obtain the new exponential consensus criteria. Three simulations are provided to demonstrate the proposed stability criteria.     

Formation control for second-order multi-agent systems with time-varying delays under directed topology

In this paper, we investigate a formation control problem for second-order multi-agent systems with directed graph interconnection topologies that contain time-varying coupling delays. By using a special multiple leaders’ framework, sufficient conditions are obtained for both time-invariant and time-varying formations as well as for time-varying formations for trajectory tracking, which guarantees the attainment of the formations is at exponentially converging speeds. Some numerical simulations are also conducted to validate the theoretical results.     

Synchronization of nonlinear systems with delays via periodically nonlinear intermittent control

In this paper, the synchronization for a class of nonlinear chaotic systems with delays is proposed by using periodically intermittent nonlinear feedback control. Some synchronization criteria are derived based on Lyapunov functional theory and several differential inequalities such as Halanay inequality. As a special case, some sufficient conditions are obtained to ensure the synchronization of nonlinear systems without delays. Finally, some numerical simulations are presented to verify the theoretical results.     

Sampled-data distributed protocol for coordinated aggregation of multi-agent systems subject to communication delays

This paper studies the coordinated aggregation problem of a multi-agent system. Particularly, all the agents reach a consensus within a pre-specified target region. However, only a subset of agents have access to this target region, and each agent merely interacts with its neighbors by communication. Moreover, there exist unknown heterogeneous delays in communication channels. The underlying communication topology is characterized by a digraph. To accommodate the practical digital disposal, a sampled-data distributed protocol is proposed, where the sampling is asynchronous in the sense that the sampling periods of distinct agents are heterogeneous. The resulting closed-loop system from the proposed sampled-data distributed protocol is in a hybrid fashion that the continuous system is fed-back by using discrete states at sampling instants. The convergence performance of this hybrid closed-loop system is analyzed based on the contraction theory. More specifically, it is first shown that all the states are coordinated to aggregate within the target region, i.e., coordinated aggregation. With this result, it is next shown that all the states are coordinated towards a consensus, i.e., state agreement. These together guarantee the fulfillment of the concerned coordinated aggregation objective. Finally, a simulation example is given to validate the theoretical results.