Hybrid consensus for multi-agent systems with time-driven jumps

In this paper, the behavior of scalar multi-agent systems over networks subject to time-driven jumps. Assuming that all agents communicate through distinct communication digraphs at jump and flow times, the asymptotic multi-consensus behavior of the hybrid network is explicitly characterized. The hybrid multi-consensus is shown to be associated with a suitable partition that is almost equitable for both the jump and flow communication digraphs. In doing so, no assumption on the underlying digraphs is introduced. Finally, the coupling rules making the multi-consensus subspace attractive are established. Several simulation examples illustrate 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.     

Impulsive consensus problem of second-order multi-agent systems with switching topologies

The paper proposes an impulsive consensus protocol to solve the consensus problem of the second-order multi-agent systems with fixed and switching topologies. Some sufficient conditions are obtained for the states of follower agents converging to the state of leader asymptotically. Two numerical simulations are also given to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical analysis.     

Consensus of the second-order multi-agent systems with an active leader and coupling time delay

This article investigates the consensus problem of the second-order multi-agent systems with an active leader and coupling time delay in direct graph. One decentralized state control rule is constructed for each agent to track the active leader and it is proved that the proposed control scheme enables the consensus to be obtained when the adjacency topology is fixed/switched. Simulation results show effectiveness of the proposed theoretical analysis.     

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.     

Randomly changing leader-following consensus control for Markovian switching multi-agent systems with interval time-varying delays

This paper considers the problem of leader-following consensus stability and also stabilization for multi-agent systems with interval time-varying delays. The randomly occurring interconnection information of the leader and the Markovian switching interconnection information of the agent are matters of concern in the systems. Through construction of a suitable Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional and utilization of the reciprocally convex approach, new delay-dependent consensus stability and stabilization conditions for the systems are established in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) which can be easily solved by using various effective optimization algorithms. Two numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.     

Consensus problems in discrete-time multiagent systems with fixed topology

In this paper, we study the consensus problems in discrete-time multiagent systems with fixed topology. A necessary and sufficient condition for a system that solves a consensus problem is established, and the structure of consensus functions is characterized. Based on them, we introduce the standard topologies (graphs) of information flow, with which the systems can be viewed as single-leader-multi-follower systems. Moreover, the convex combination of these topologies can create a system that solves any predeterminate consensus problem. Additionally, we characterize the structural decomposition—the leaders-followers decomposition of a multiagent system, and establish a necessary and sufficient condition for an agent to be a leader.     

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.     

Exponential stability of nonlinear state-dependent delayed impulsive systems with applications

The exponential stability problem for impulsive systems subject to double state-dependent delays is studied in this paper, where state-dependent delay (SDD) is involved in both continuous dynamics and discrete dynamics and the boundedness of it with respect to states is prior unknown. According to impulsive control theory, we present some Lyapunov-based sufficient conditions for the exponential stability of the concerned system. It is shown that the stabilizing effect of SDD impulses on an unstable SDD system changes the stability and achieves desired performance. In addition, the destabilizing effect of SDD impulses is also fully considered and the corresponding sufficient conditions are derived, which reveals the fact that a stable SDD system can maintain its performance when it is subject to SDD impulsive disturbance. As an application, the proposed result can be employed to the stability analysis of impulsive genetic regulatory networks (GRNs) with SDD and the corresponding sufficient conditions are proposed in terms of the model transformation technique and the linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) technique. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of the derived results, we give two examples including impulsive GRNs with SDD and the impulsive controller design for the nonlinear system with SDD.     

Second-order cluster consensus of multi-agent dynamical systems with impulsive effects

This paper discuss the cluster consensus of multi-agent dynamical systems (MADSs) with impulsive effects and coupling delays. Some sufficient conditions that guarantee cluster consensus in MADS are derived. In each cluster, agents update their position and velocity states according to a leader’s instantaneous information, and interactions among agents are uncertain. Furthermore, switching topology problem in MADS is considered by impulsive stability and adaptive strategy. Finally, numerical simulations are given to verify our theoretical analysis.     

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.     

Consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with linear and nonlinear dynamics

In this paper, we perform an in-depth study about the consensus problem of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with linear and nonlinear dynamics.Specifically, this system is composed of two classes of agents respectively described by linear and nonlinear dynamics. By the aid of the adaptive method and Lyapunov stability theory, the mean consensus problem is realized in the framework of first-order case and second-order case under undirected and connected networks.Still, an meaningful example is provided to verify the effectiveness of the gained theoretical results. Our study is expected to establish a more realistic model and provide a better understanding of consensus problem in the multi-agent system.     

Input-to-state stability of nonlinear systems with hybrid inputs and delayed impulses

This paper addresses input-to-state stability (ISS) and integral input-to-state stability (iISS) problem of impulsive systems with hybrid inputs and delayed impulses. By adopting Lyapunov function method, sufficient conditions for ISS/iISS are established, and the impact of time delay in hybrid impulses, that is, the stabilizing impulses and destabilizing impulses, are further studied. Moreover, several examples are given and numerical simulations are performed to illustrate their usefulness.     

Consensus in Byzantine asynchronous systems

This paper presents a consensus protocol resilient to Byzantine failures. It uses signed and certified messages and is based on two underlying failure detection modules. The first is a muteness failure detection module of the class . The second is a reliable Byzantine behaviour detection module. More precisely, the first module detects processes that stop sending messages, while processes experiencing other non-correct behaviours (i.e., Byzantine) are detected by the second module. The protocol is resilient to F faulty processes, Fmin((n−1)/2,C) (where C is the maximum number of faulty processes that can be tolerated by the underlying certification service).The approach used to design the protocol is new. While usual Byzantine consensus protocols are based on failure detectors to detect processes that stop communicating, none of them use a module to detect their Byzantine behaviour (this detection is not isolated from the protocol and makes it difficult to understand and prove correct). In addition to this modular approach and to a consensus protocol for Byzantine systems, the paper presents a finite state automaton-based implementation of the Byzantine behaviour detection module. Finally, the modular approach followed in this paper can be used to solve other problems in asynchronous systems experiencing Byzantine failures.     

Input-to-state stability of impulsive systems with hybrid delayed impulse effects

The goal of this paper is to study properties of input-to-state stability (ISS) and integral input-to-state stability (iISS) of impulsive systems with hybrid delayed impulses, and a set of Lyapunov-based sufficient conditions ensuring ISS/iISS properties are obtained. Those conditions reveal the effects of hybrid delayed impulses on ISS/iISS and establish the relationship between impulsive frequency and the time delay existing in hybrid impulses. When the continuous dynamics of the system are stabilizing, the ISS property can be retained under the impulse scheme even if there exist destabilizing impulses. Conversely, when the impulse dynamics are stabilizing, but the continuous dynamics are not, the ISS property can be obtained if the interval between impulses are not overly long. Two illustrative examples are presented, with their numerical simulations, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the main results.     

Stability analysis of impulsive switched systems with time delays

In this paper, exponential stability criteria of impulsive switched systems with variable delays are introduced. Based on some impulsive delay differential inequalities, some general criteria for the exponential stability are obtained. Finally, an example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the theory.     

Distributed containment control of second‐order multiagent systems with input delays under general protocols

This article addresses the distributed containment control problem in a group of agents governed by second‐order dynamics with directed network topologies. Considering there are multiple leaders, we study a general second‐order containment controller which can realize several different consensus modes by adjusting control gains. A necessary and sufficient condition on the control gains of the general containment controller is provided. Moreover, the delay sensitivity of the closed‐loop multiagent system under the general containment controller is studied; the maximal upper bound of the constant delays is obtained. Finally, several numerical examples are used to illustrate the theoretical results. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 112–120, 2016     

Leader-following exponential consensus of general linear multi-agent systems via event-triggered control with combinational measurements

In this paper, the leader-following exponential consensus problem of general linear multi-agent systems via event-triggered control is considered. By using the combinational measurements, two classes of event triggers are designed, one depends on continuous communications between the agents, the other avoids continuous communications. For such two classes of event triggers, the exponential consensus as well as the convergence rates of the controlled multi-agent systems are studied, respectively, by employing the M-matrix theory, algebraic graph theory and the Lyapunov method.     

Exponential stability analysis of impulsive stochastic functional differential systems with delayed impulses

This paper is concerned with the exponential stability analysis of impulsive stochastic functional differential systems with delayed impulses. Although the stability of impulsive stochastic functional differential systems have received considerable attention. However, relatively few works are concerned with the stability of systems with delayed impulses and our aim here is mainly to close the gap. Based on the Lyapunov functions and Razumikhin techniques, some exponential stability criteria are derived, which show that the system will stable if the impulses’ frequency and amplitude are suitably related to the increase or decrease of the continuous flows. The obtained results improve and complement ones from some recent works. Three examples are discussed to illustrate the effectiveness and the advantages of the results obtained.     

Asymptotic stability and instability of the solutions of systems with impulse action

In this paper, we study the stability of the zero solution of a system of ordinary differential equations subject to impulse action. Using the method of Lyapunov functions, we obtain tests for asymptotic stability or instability of the system. Illustrative examples are given.