Finite-time leader-following rendezvous for Euler–Lagrange multi-agent systems with an uncertain leader

Abstract

This paper considers the problem of finite-time leader-following rendezvous with connectivity preservation for a class of Euler–Lagrange multi-agent systems with a dynamic leader subject to uncertain external disturbances. By designing a finite-time disturbance observer and using the technique based on the addition of a power integrator, a composite controller is proposed to guarantee leader-following rendezvous in finite time. Moreover, an appropriate Lyapunov potential function is proposed to ensure connectivity preservation. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.