Abstract
This paper investigates the flocking problem of multi-agents with partial information exchange, which means that only part, but not all, of the agents are informed of the group objective. A distributed flocking model based on the inclusion principle is provided to simplify the design and analysis of multi-agent systems. Furthermore, to reduce the communication energy consumption, an improved flocking algorithm based on the model is proposed to achieve stable flocking for all the agents. The stability of the multi-agent system is then established, with the help of the Lyapunov stability theorem and LaSalle’s invariance principle. Especially, considering the individual heterogeneity in both nature and engineering applications, we also investigate the flocking problem of multi-agents with different sensing radiuses and equilibrium distances. Finally, two kinds of simulation results are presented to demonstrate the validity of the proposed results. This work provides an insight not only into the properties of the different species of individual flocking, but also into the theoretical framework for the engineering design of multi-agent systems considering individual heterogeneity.
Highlights
Flocking, a common phenomenon in nature, can eventually achieve a group objective through local communication among the neighbouring agents
Su et al [20] extended the typical flocking algorithm, considering that only partial agents are informed of the group objective, and numerical simulations indicated that most agents will asymptotically track the group objective, Mathematical Problems in Engineering even if only a fraction of the group are informed agents
The flocking problem of multi-agents with partial information exchange was investigated based on the inclusion principle
Summary
A common phenomenon in nature, can eventually achieve a group objective through local communication among the neighbouring agents. Xi et al [23] provided a theoretical framework for the analysis of the output consensus problem of high-order linear time-invariant multi-agent systems, during the flocking process. The inclusion principle and its extended pair-wise decomposition can be chosen as a proper tool to simplify the design and analysis of flocking for multi-agent systems. The main contributions of this paper are as follows: (1) A distributed flocking model based on the inclusion principle is proposed to simplify the design and analysis of flocking for multi-agent systems. (3) Considering the individual heterogeneity in both nature and engineering applications, the flocking problem of multi-agents with different equilibrium distances is investigated. 2. Preliminaries e flocking algorithm design process proposed in this paper is based on some preliminary knowledge about graph theory, especially, the inclusion principle and its extended pairwise decomposition. Sp, respectively. the system S, Suppose namely, that the SS, and xp P−A1x, up P−B1u, yp P−C1y, where PA, PB, and PC are nonsingular permutation matrices with appropriate dimensions, such that SPS
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
