Consensus Of Heterogeneous Multi-agent Systems Research Articles

Group consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with fixed topologies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the dynamical group consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with fixed topologies. Design/methodology/approach – The tool used in this paper to model the topologies of multi-agent systems is algebraic graph theory. The matrix theory and stability theory are applied to research the group consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with fixed topologies. The Laplace transform and Routh criterion are utilized to analyze the convergence properties of heterogeneous multi-agent systems. Findings – It is discovered that the dynamical group consensus for heterogeneous multi-agent systems with first-order and second-order agents can be achieved under the reasonable hypothesizes. The group consensus condition is only relied on the nonzero eigenvalues of the graph Laplacian matrix. Originality/value – The novelty of this paper is to investigate the dynamical group consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with first-order and second-order agents and fixed topologies and obtain a sufficient group consensus condition.

Output consensus for heterogeneous multi-agent systems with linear dynamics

This paper deals with output consensus problem of heterogeneous multi-agent systems. The cases of leaderless and leader-following are considered. For each case, a dynamic consensus protocol is proposed, in which the parameters are dependent on the solution of a regulation equation and a homogeneous system. The homogeneous system can be analyzed by full-developed technique in homogenous multi-agent systems. Furthermore, dynamic regulators based on the state observers also are presented which is suitable for the case that the system states cannot be obtained. Simulation examples are provided finally to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design methods.

Group consensus control for heterogeneous multi-agent systems with fixed and switching topologies

ABSTRACTIn this paper, the group consensus problems of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with fixed and switching topologies are investigated. First, a class of distributed group consensus protocol is proposed for achieving the group consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems by using the neighbours’ information. Then, some corresponding sufficient conditions are obtained to guarantee the achievement of group consensus. Rigorous proofs are given by using graph theory, matrix theory and Lyapunov theory. Finally, numerical simulations are also given to verify the theoretical analysis.

Leader-following consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with packet dropout

This paper studies the leader-following consensus problem for heterogeneous multi-agent systems composed of linear second-order integrator agents and nonlinear Euler-Lagrange agents in two aspects. The consensus problem of heterogeneous multi-agent systems is discussed with unknown velocities, time-varying disturbances and packet dropout by introducing extended state observer. Sufficient conditions are established to ensure that all following agents could reach consensus with a virtual leader, which provide the allowable upper bound of packet drop rate. Numerical simulations are presented to illustrate the theoretical results.

Consensus Analysis of Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Systems with Time-Varying Delay

This paper studies consensus and \(H_\infty\) consensus problems for heterogeneous multi-agent systems composed of first-order and second-order integrator agents. We first rewrite the multi-agent systems into the corresponding reduced-order systems based on the graph theory and the reduced-order transformation. Then, the linear matrix inequality approach is used to consider the consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with time-varying delays in directed networks. As a result, sufficient conditions for consensus and \(H_\infty\) consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems in terms of linear matrix inequalities are established in the cases of fixed and switching topologies. Finally, numerical simulations are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

Consensus for heterogeneous multi-agent systems under fixed and switching topologies

The consensus problem for heterogeneous multi-agent systems under directed topologies is investigated. For continuous-time systems, a novel consensus algorithm is proposed. Based on a system transformation method, the consensus problem for heterogeneous multi-agent systems is converted into a consensus problem for homogeneous multi-agent systems. Necessary and sufficient conditions are presented to guarantee that the designed consensus algorithm asymptotically solves the consensus for heterogeneous multi-agent systems under a fixed topology. The final convergence states are shown explicitly for this case. Sufficient conditions are given to guarantee that heterogeneous multi-agent systems reach consensus asymptotically under switching topologies. The obtained results are superior obviously to the existing ones in the literature. The counterparts about discrete-time systems are also investigated. Both periodic sampling and nonperiodic sampling are considered. Numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results.

Consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with switching jointly-connected interconnection

In this paper, the consensus problem of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with switching jointly-connected interconnection and a leader is considered. Firstly, by a model transformation, the original closed-loop system is turned into an equivalent system. And then, by applying the matrix theory and Lyapunov directed method, the convergence of the multi-agent systems is analyzed, a sufficient condition for consensus of systems is derived when the communication topologies are jointly-connected. Finally, simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of presented results.

Finite-time Consensus of Heterogeneous Multi-agent Systems with Linear and Nonlinear Dynamics

In this paper, the finite-time consensus problems of heterogeneous multi-agent systems composed of both linear and nonlinear dynamics agents are investigated. Nonlinear consensus protocols are proposed for the heterogeneous multi-agent systems. Some sufficient conditions for the finite-time consensus are established in the leaderless and leader-following cases. The results are also extended to the case where the communication topology is directed and satisfies a detailed balance condition on coupling weights. At last, some simulation results are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results.

Consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems based on sampled data with a small sampling delay

In this paper, consensus problems of heterogeneous multi-agent systems based on sampled data with a small sampling delay are considered. First, a consensus protocol based on sampled data with a small sampling delay for heterogeneous multi-agent systems is proposed. Then, the algebra graph theory, the matrix method, the stability theory of linear systems, and some other techniques are employed to derive the necessary and sufficient conditions guaranteeing heterogeneous multi-agent systems to asymptotically achieve the stationary consensus. Finally, simulations are performed to demonstrate the correctness of the theoretical results.

Group consensus for heterogeneous multi-agent systems with parametric uncertainties

In this paper, a group consensus problem is investigated for the heterogeneous agents that are governed by the Euler–Lagrange system and the double-integrator system, respectively, and the parameters of the Euler–Lagrange system are uncertain. To achieve group consensus, a novel group consensus protocol and a time-varying estimator of the uncertain parameters are proposed. By combining algebraic graph theory with the Barbalat lemma, several effective sufficient conditions are obtained. It is found that the time-delay group consensus can be achieved provided that the inner coupling matrices are equal in the different sub-networks. Besides, the switching topologies between homogeneous agents are also considered, with the help of the Barbalat-like lemma, and some relevant results are also obtained. Finally, these theoretical results are demonstrated by the numerical simulations.

Finite-time consensus for heterogeneous multi-agent systems with mixed-order agents

This paper studies the finite-time consensus for heterogeneous multi-agent systems composed of mixed-order agents over fixed and switching topologies. The control protocol of each agent using local information is designed and the detailed analysis of the finite-time consensus for fixed and switching interaction topologies is presented. The design of the finite-time consensus protocol is based on graph theory, matrix theory, and LaSalle’s invariance principle. Both theoretical studies and simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed method and the correctness of the obtained theoretical results.

Finite-time consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems

We investigate the finite-time consensus problem for heterogeneous multi-agent systems composed of first-order and second-order agents. A novel continuous nonlinear distributed consensus protocol is constructed, and finite-time consensus criteria are obtained for the heterogeneous multi-agent systems. Compared with the existing results, the stationary and kinetic consensuses of the heterogeneous multi-agent systems can be achieved in a finite time respectively. Moreover, the leader can be a first-order or a second-order integrator agent. Finally, some simulation examples are employed to verify the efficiency of the theoretical results.

Distributed event-triggered control of discrete-time heterogeneous multi-agent systems

This paper investigates the consensus problem for a set of discrete-time heterogeneous multi-agent systems composed of two kinds of agents differed by their dynamics. The consensus control is designed based on the event-triggered communication scheme, which can lead to a significant reduction of the information communication burden in the multi-agent network. Meanwhile, only the communication between the agent and its local neighbors is needed, therefore, the designed control is essentially distributed. Based on the Lyapunov functional method and the Kronecker product technique, a sufficient condition is obtained to guarantee the consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems in terms of linear matrix inequality (LMI). Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the developed theory in the last.

Consensus protocol for heterogeneous multi-agent systems: A Markov chain approach

This paper deals with the consensus problem for heterogeneous multi-agent systems. Different from most existing consensus protocols, we consider the consensus seeking of two types of agents, namely, active agents and passive agents. The objective is to directly control the active agents such that the states of all the agents would achieve consensus. In order to obtain a computational approach, we subtly introduce an appropriate Markov chain to cast the heterogeneous systems into a unified framework. Such a framework is helpful for tackling the constraints from passive agents. Furthermore, a sufficient and necessary condition is established to guarantee the consensus in heterogeneous multi-agent systems. Finally, simulation results are provided to verify the theoretical analysis and the effectiveness of the proposed protocol.

Consensus of fractional‐order heterogeneous multi‐agent systems

This study is devoted to the consensus protocols design for a set of fractional-order heterogeneous agents, which is composed of two kinds of agents differed by their dynamics and the fractional-order α satisfies 0 < α < 2. Distributed state feedback consensus protocols are constructed for the two kinds of agents, respectively. Based on the Kronecker product technique and the fractional-order stability theory, sufficient conditions are derived to ensure the consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). These can be solved numerically by LMI toolbox in Matlab. Finally, a simulation example is employed to validate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

Distributed consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with fixed and switching topologies

In this article, we study distributed consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with fixed and switching topologies. The analysis is based on graph theory and nonnegative matrix theory. We propose two kinds of consensus protocols based on the consensus protocol of first-order and second-order multi-agent systems. Some necessary and sufficient conditions that the heterogeneous multi-agent system solves the consensus problems under different consensus protocols are presented with fixed topology. We also give some sufficient conditions for consensus of the heterogeneous multi-agent system with switching topology. Simulation examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

On the Consensus of Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Systems: a Decoupling Approach

This article deals with consensus algorithms for heterogeneous multi-agent systems (MAS). A control strategy based on a consensus algorithm which is decoupled from the original systems is proposed. Consequently, its major advantage remains in the separation of the stability analysis of each subsystem and the distributed control algorithm. Through the paper, it is shown that our method allows using classical distributed consensus algorithms such as simple integrator consensus (with or without delay) and distributed consensus filter algorithms. Finally, some simulations supporting our theoretical results are presented, where the efficiency of the method is tested for completely arbitrary models.

Finite-time consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with and without velocity measurements

This paper studies the finite-time consensus problem of heterogeneous multi-agent systems composed of first-order and second-order integrator agents. By combining the homogeneous domination method with the adding a power integrator method, we propose two classes of consensus protocols with and without velocity measurements. First, we consider the protocol with velocity measurements and prove that it can solve the finite-time consensus under a strongly connected graph and leader-following network, respectively. Second, we consider the finite-time consensus problem of heterogeneous multi-agent systems, for which the second-order integrator agents cannot obtain the velocity measurements for feedback. Finally, some examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

Consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems without velocity measurements

This article considers the consensus problem of heterogeneous multi-agent system composed of first-order and second-order agents, in which the second-order integrator agents cannot obtain the velocity (second state) measurements for feedback. Two different consensus protocols are proposed. First, we propose a consensus protocol and discuss the consensus problem of heterogeneous multi-agent system. By applying the graph theory and the Lyapunov direct method, some sufficient conditions for consensus are established when the communication topologies are undirected connected graphs and leader-following networks. Second, due to actuator saturation, we propose another consensus protocol with input constraint and obtain the consensus criterions for heterogeneous multi-agent system. Finally, some examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained criterions.

High-order consensus of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with unknown communication delays

This paper studies the high-order consensus problem for heterogeneous multi-agent systems with unknown communication delays. A necessary and sufficient condition is given for the existence of a high-order consensus solution to heterogeneous multi-agent systems. The condition shows that, for systems with diverse communication delays, high-order consensus does not require the self-delay of each agent to be equal to the corresponding communication delay. When the communication delays are unknown, a simple adaptive adjustment algorithm is presented for on-line adjusting self-delays.