Synchronization of a Class of Nonlinear Multi-Agent Systems

Abstract

In this paper, we study the leader-following synchronization problem for a class of heterogeneous nonlinear multi-agent systems with linearly parameterized uncertainties. The similar problem has been studied recently in some literature. Compared with existing works, our work has the characteristics in that the control law depends on the relative state of the multi-agent system. Thus, it can be adopted without communication of internal state. To solve the problem, we first introduce a class of distributed dynamic compensators, which depends on the relative state of the multi-agent system. Then, to deal with system uncertainties, we design the adaptive distributed control law. Finally, we show that the proposed adaptive distributed control law can solve the synchronization problem of the nonlinear multi-agent systems. The effectiveness of the main result is verified by its application to synchronization control of a group of Van der Pol oscillators.