Robust formation maneuvers through sliding mode for multi-agent systems with uncertainties

Abstract

This paper develops a robust control method for formation maneuvers of a multi-agent system. The multi-agent system is leader-follower-based, where the graph theory is utilized to describe the information exchange among the agents. The control method is exercised via sliding mode methodology where each agent is subjected to uncertainties. The technique of nonlinear disturbance observer is adopted in order to overcome the adverse effects of the uncertainties. Assuming that the uncertainties have an unknown bound, the formation stability conditions are investigated according to a given communication topology. In the sense of Lyapunov, not only the formation maneuvers of the multi-agent system have guaranteed stability, but the desired formations of the agents are also realized. Compared with other two control approaches, i.e., the basic sliding mode approach and the fuzzy sliding mode approach, some numerical results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness, performance and validity of the robust control method for formation maneuvers in the presence of uncertainties.