Distributed output-based bipartite consensus for nonlinear fractional-order multi-agent systems with continuous and intermittent communications

Abstract

This paper studies the distributed output-based bipartite consensus problem in a nonlinear fractional-order multi-agent system (FOMAS) subjected to heterogeneous nonlinear functions and disturbances over a signed directed graph. Two types of distributed bipartite consensus algorithms are proposed to solve the bipartite consensus problem by utilizing continuous and intermittent output measurements, respectively. A novel discontinuous algorithm with a nominal controller is first developed to derive that all agents reach the sliding-mode surface in finite time, and meanwhile, each agent’s dynamics can be described by a linear FOMAS with a nominal controller. When each agent can access its neighbors’ output measurements continuously all the time, a continuous output-based nominal controller is designed for the linear FOMAS to realize bipartite consensus asymptotically. When each agent can only access its neighbors’ output measurements intermittently in some disconnected time intervals, an intermittent output-based nominal controller is further designed, where the communication rate is required to be greater than a derived threshold value. Numerical simulations are performed to validate the effectiveness of the main results.