Finite/fixed-time consensus of nonlinear multi-agent systems against actuator faults and disturbances

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the consensus tracking problem in nonlinear multi-agent systems against external disturbances and multiple actuator faults. The nonlinear dynamics are unknown and the leader’s input is unavailable to any follower. By using finite-time Lyapunov stability theory, a distributed discontinuous protocol is developed. On this basis, a fixed-time control protocol is further designed to obtain a settling time regardless of initial conditions. In addition, the practical finite-time consensus and practical fixed-time consensus are investigated by the adaptive technique, under which the bounds of the faults can be estimated online adaptively. The innovation of this work lies in the fact that the finite/fixed-time consensus problem is solved when multiple faults and mismatched nonlinearity are simultaneously considered. The relationship between the settling time and design parameters is well established. Finally, some numerical simulations are given to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical results.