Distance-based formation tracking control of multi-agent systems with double-integrator dynamics

This paper addresses the distance-based formation tracking problem for a double-integrator modeled multi-agent system(MAS) in the presence of a moving leader in d-dimensional space. Under the assumption that the state of leader can be obtained over fixed graphs, a distributed distance-based control protocol is designed for each double-integrator follower agent. The protocol consists of three terms: a gradient function term, a velocity consensus term, and a leader tracking term.Different shape stabilizing functions proposed in the literature can be applied to the gradient function term. The proposed controller allows all agents to both achieve the desired shape and reach the same velocity with moving leader by controlling the distances and velocity. Finally, we analyze the local asymptotic stability of the equilibrium set with center manifold theory. We validate the effectiveness of our approach through two examples.     

Second-Order Consensus of Multiple Agents with Bounded Control Inputs and Preserved Network Connectivity

This paper investigates second-order consensus of multi-agent systems with a virtual leader of varying velocity while preserving network connectivity.We propose a novel second-order consensus algorithm with bounded control inputs.Under the condition that the initial network is connected,the network will be connected all the time and all agents and the virtual leader can attain the same position and move with the same velocity.A simulation example is proposed to illustrate the effective of the proposed algorithm.     

Collective composite-rotating consensus of multi-agent systems

This paper investigates a distributed composite-rotating consensus problem of second-order multi-agent systems, where all agents move in a nested circular orbit. A distributed control law is proposed which contains two parts： the local state feedback that guarantees the circular motion and the distributed relative state feedback that guarantees the consensus of all agents. A sufficient condition is derived to drive all agents as well as ensure their circle centers make circular motion in a distributed manner. Finally, a numerical simulation is included to demonstrate our theoretical results.     

Tracking consensus for nonlinear heterogeneous multi-agent systems subject to unknown disturbances via sliding mode control

We investigate the tracking control for a class of nonlinear heterogeneous leader-follower multi-agent systems(MAS)with unknown external disturbances. Firstly, the neighbor-based distributed finite-time observers are proposed for the followers to estimate the position and velocity of the leader. Then, two novel distributed adaptive control laws are designed by means of linear sliding mode(LSM) as well as nonsingular terminal sliding mode(NTSM), respectively. One can prove that the tracking consensus can be achieved asymptotically under LSM and the tracking error can converge to a quite small neighborhood of the origin in finite time by NTSM in spite of uncertainties and disturbances. Finally, a simulation example is given to verify the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results.     

Tracking Consensus for Second-Order Multi-Agent Systems with Nonlinear Dynamics in Noisy Environments

This paper investigates the leader-following tracking consensus problem for second-order multi-agent systems with time delays and nonlinear dynamics in noisy environments on the conditions of fixed and switching directed topologies. Based on a novel velocity decomposition technique and stochastic analysis, a measurement-based distributed tracking control protocol is proposed, under which all agents can track the leader in mean square. Simulation results are also given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed protocol.     

Rigidity based formation tracking for multi-agent networks

This paper considers the formation tracking problem under a rigidity framework, where the target formation is specified as a minimally and infinitesimally rigid formation and the desired velocity of the group is available to only a subset of the agents. The following two cases are considered: the desired velocity is constant, and the desired velocity is timevarying. In the first case, a distributed linear estimator is constructed for each agent to estimate the desired velocity. The velocity estimation and a formation acquisition term are employed to design the control inputs for the agents, where the rigidity matrix plays a central role. In the second case, a distributed non-smooth estimator is constructed to estimate the time-varying velocity, which is shown to converge in a finite time. Theoretical analysis shows that the formation tracking problem can be solved under the proposed control algorithms and estimators. Simulation results are also provided to show the validity of the derived results.     

Finite-time consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems

We investigate the finite-time consensus problem for heterogeneous multi-agent systems composed of first-order and second-order agents.A novel continuous nonlinear distributed consensus protocol is constructed,and finite-time consensus criteria are obtained for the heterogeneous multi-agent systems.Compared with the existing results,the stationary and kinetic consensuses of the heterogeneous multi-agent systems can be achieved in a finite time respectively.Moreover,the leader can be a first-order or a second-order integrator agent.Finally,some simulation examples are employed to verify the efficiency of the theoretical results.     

Antagonistic formation motion of cooperative agents

This paper investigates a new formation motion problem of a class of first-order multi-agent systems with antagonistic interactions.A distributed formation control algorithm is proposed for each agent to realize the antagonistic formation motion.A sufficient condition is derived to ensure that all of the agents make an antagonistic formation motion in a distributed manner.It is shown that all of the agents can be spontaneously divided into several groups and that agents in the same group collaborate while agents in different groups compete.Finally,a numerical simulation is included to demonstrate our theoretical results.     

Distributed Consensus Tracking Control of Chaotic Multi-Agent Supply Chain Network: A New Fault-Tolerant,Finite-Time,and Chatter-Free Approach

Over the last years, distributed consensus tracking control has received a lot of attention due to its benefits, such as low operational costs, high resilience, flexible scalability, and so on. However, control methods that do not consider faults in actuators and control agents are impractical in most systems. There is no research in the literature investigating the consensus tracking of supply chain networks subject to disturbances and faults in control input. Motivated by this, the current research studies the fault-tolerant, finite-time, and smooth consensus tracking problems for chaotic multi-agent supply chain networks subject to disturbances, uncertainties, and faults in actuators. The chaotic attractors of a supply chain network are shown, and its corresponding multi-agent system is presented. A new control technique is then proposed, which is suitable for distributed consensus tracking of nonlinear uncertain systems. In the proposed scheme, the effects of faults in control actuators and robustness against unknown time-varying disturbances are taken into account. The proposed technique also uses a finite-time super-twisting algorithm that avoids chattering in the system’s response and control input. Lastly, the multi-agent system is considered in the presence of disturbances and actuator faults, and the proposed scheme’s excellent performance is displayed through numerical simulations.     

Leader-following formation control of multi-agent networks based on distributed observers

To investigate the leader-following formation control, in this paper we present the design problem of control protocols and distributed observers under which the agents can achieve and maintain the desired formation from any initial states, while the velocity converges to that of the virtual leader whose velocity cannot be measured by agents in real time. The two cases of switching topologies without communication delay and fixed topology with time-varying communication delay are both considered for multi-agent networks. By using the Lyapunov stability theory, the issue of stability is analysed for multi-agent systems with switching topologies. Then, by considering the time-varying communication delay, the sufficient condition is proposed for the multi-agent systems with fixed topology. Finally, two numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed leader-following formation control protocols.     

基于激光雷达的多旋翼飞行器实时避障系统

针对多旋翼飞行器的障碍物规避问题,提出一种基于激光雷达的自主飞行多旋翼飞行器避障系统,实现多旋翼飞行器自主飞行的实时避障;该避障系统针对静态、低速运动障碍物,综合飞行器本体姿态、速度、加速度等状态信息,建立基于改进势场法的避障模型和算法;在机器人操作系统(ROS,Robot Operating System)平台进行该避障系统的软件实现,其通过串口与飞控进行通信,完成多旋翼飞行器的自主避障飞行;同时,为了使该系统能在强光环境正常工作,在不影响系统实时性的前提下,对激光雷达的干扰问题进行优化设计;大量实验表明:该避障算法计算量小,能够保证避障系统的实时性,在机体慢速以及低速运动(机体与障碍物之间的相对运动速度小于等于3 m/s)的场景中能够正确检测范围6 m内,并迅速规避障碍物。     

Distributed event-triggered consensus tracking of second-order multi-agent systems with a virtual leader

This paper investigates the consensus tracking problems of second-order multi-agent systems with a virtual leader via event-triggered control. A novel distributed event-triggered transmission scheme is proposed, which is intermittently examined at constant sampling instants. Only partial neighbor information and local measurements are required for event detection. Then the corresponding event-triggered consensus tracking protocol is presented to guarantee second-order multi-agent systems to achieve consensus tracking. Numerical simulations are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.     

Distributed optimization for discrete-time multiagent systems with nonconvex control input constraints and switching topologies

This paper addresses the distributed optimization problem of discrete-time multiagent systems with nonconvex control input constraints and switching topologies. We introduce a novel distributed optimization algorithm with a switching mechanism to guarantee that all agents eventually converge to an optimal solution point, while their control inputs are constrained in their own nonconvex region. It is worth noting that the mechanism is performed to tackle the coexistence of the nonconvex constraint operator and the optimization gradient term. Based on the dynamic transformation technique, the original nonlinear dynamic system is transformed into an equivalent one with a nonlinear error term. By utilizing the nonnegative matrix theory, it is shown that the optimization problem can be solved when the union of switching communication graphs is jointly strongly connected. Finally, a numerical simulation example is used to demonstrate the acquired theoretical results.     

H∞ consensus control of a class of second-order multi-agent systems without relative velocity measurement

This paper studies consensus control problems for a class of second-order multi-agent systems without relative velocity measurement. Some dynamic neighbour-based rules are adopted for the agents in the presence of external disturbances. A sufficient condition is derived to make all agents achieve consensus while satisfying desired H_∞ performance. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to show the effectiveness of our theoretical results.     

Consensus of second-order multi-agent systems with nonuniform time delays

In this study, the consensus problem for a class of second-order multi-agent systems with nonuniform time delays is investigated. A linear consensus protocol is used to make all agents reach consensus and move with a constant velocity. By a frequency-domain analysis, a simplified sufficient condition is given to guarantee the consensus stability of the dynamic system. Finally, the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results is illustrated through numerical simulations.     

Reference model based consensus control of second-order multi-agent systems

This paper deals with the consensus problem of multi-agent systems with second-order dynamics.The objective is to design algorithms such that all agents will have same positions and velocities.First,a reference model based consensus algorithm is proposed.It is proved that the consensus can be achieved if the communication graph has a spanning tree.Different from most of the consensus algorithms proposed in the literature,the parameters of the control laws are different among agents.Therefore,each agent can design its control law independently.Secondly,it gives a consensus algorithm for the case that the velocities of the agents are not available.Thirdly,the effectiveness of the input delay and the communication delay is considered.It shows that consensus can be achieved if the input delay of every agent is smaller than a bound related to parameters in its control law.Finally,some numerical examples are given to illustrate the proposed results.     

Asymptotic bounded consensus tracking of double-integrator multi-agent systems with bounded-jerk target based on sampled-data without velocity measurements

This paper investigates asymptotic bounded consensus tracking(ABCT) of double-integrator multi-agent systems(MASs) with an asymptotically-unbounded-acceleration and bounded-jerk target(AUABJT) available to partial agents based on sampled-data without velocity measurements. A sampled-data consensus tracking protocol(CTP) without velocity measurements is proposed to guarantee that double-integrator MASs track an AUABJT available to only partial agents.The eigenvalue analysis method together with the augmented matrix method is used to obtain the necessary and sufficient conditions for ABCT. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of theoretical results.     

Rotating consensus of multi-agent systems without relative velocity measurement

We study the rotating consensus of multi-agent systems without the relative velocity measurement in this paper. A new protocol is proposed. Then we use the theory of the complex system combined with the function continuity to derive a condition, under which all agents finally reach the rotating consensus. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate our theoretical results.     

Dynamical Consensus Algorithm for Second-Order Multi-Agent Systems Subjected to Communication Delay

To solve the dynamical consensus problem of second-order multi-agent systems with communication delay,delay-dependent compensations are added into the normal asynchronously-coupled consensus algorithm so as to make the agents achieve a dynamical consensus. Based on frequency-domain analysis, sufficient conditions are gained for second-order multi-agent systems with communication delay under leaderless and leader-following consensus algorithms respectively. Simulation illustrates the correctness of the results.     

一类异构多智能体系统固定和切换拓扑下的一致性分析

对包含一阶二阶智能体的异构系统有向图中的一致性问题进行研究.对该系统采用了一种线性分布式一致性协议,基于图论和矩阵分析的方法,分析了在固定和切换拓扑情况下系统获得一致性的充分条件,该条件与控制参数和通信拓扑有关.给出了固定拓扑中系统的一致平衡点,证明了仅通信拓扑中的根节点对平衡点起作用.数值仿真验证了理论分析的正确性.