Synchronization Problem Of Multi-agent Systems Research Articles

Leader-Following Synchronization Control of Multiagent Systems Under Hybrid Cyber Attacks via Impulsive Control Based on Topology Switching.

This article investigates the leader-following synchronization problem of multiagent systems (MASs) under hybrid cyber attacks, which refers to deception attacks and multichannel independent denial-of-service (DoS) attacks in communication channels. In order to achieve the secure control of MASs under hybrid cyber attacks, a novel impulsive control method based on topology switching is proposed, and a new algorithm for determining impulsive instants is designed. In addition, the cooperative-competitive relationship between agents is also considered, which is more in line with reality. Sufficient conditions for ensuring secure control of MASs and a parametric upper bound on the error vector norm between the agents and the leader are obtained. Finally, the numerical simulation verified the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

Razumikhin and Krasovskii approaches for safe stabilization

This paper studies the stabilization and safety problems of nonlinear time-delay systems. Following both Razumikhin and Krasovskii approaches, we propose novel control Lyapunov functions/functionals for the stabilization problem and novel control barrier functions/functionals for the safety problem. The proposed control Lyapunov and barrier functions/functionals extend the existing ones from the delay-free case to the time-delay case, and allow for designing the stabilizing and safety controllers in closed-form. Since analytical solutions to time-delay optimal control problems are hard to be achieved, a sliding mode control based approach is developed to merge the proposed control Lyapunov and barrier functions/functionals. Based on the sliding surface functional, a feedback control law is established to investigate the stabilization and safety objectives simultaneously. In particular, the properties of the sliding surface functional are analyzed, and further how to construct the sliding surface functional is discussed. Finally, the proposed approaches are illustrated via two numerical examples from the connected cruise control problem of automotive systems and the synchronization problem of multi-agent systems.

Edge-Event-Triggered Synchronization for Multi-Agent Systems with Nonlinear Controller Outputs

This paper addresses the synchronization problem of multi-agent systems with nonlinear controller outputs via event-triggered control, in which the combined edge state information is utilized, and all controller outputs are nonlinear to describe their inherent nonlinear characteristics and the effects of data transmission in digital communication networks. First, an edge-event-triggered policy is proposed to implement intermittent controller updates without Zeno behavior. Then, an edge-self-triggered solution is further investigated to achieve discontinuous monitoring of sensors. Compared with the previous event-triggered mechanisms, our policy design considers the controller output nonlinearities. Furthermore, the system’s inherent nonlinear characteristics and networked data transmission effects are combined in a unified framework. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of our theoretical results.

LQ Synchronization of Discrete-Time Multiagent Systems: A Distributed Optimization Approach

The linear quadratic (LQ) synchronization problem for multiagent systems is solved by developing a distributed algorithm. It is the first time in the literature to formulate the LQ synchronization problem consisting of auxiliary synchronization state variables in discrete time with a finite horizon. The solution to this LQ synchronization problem is first considered in a centralized setting by leveraging connections to an alternating direction method of multiplier and then extended to a distributed setting, in which the individual agent's control inputs can be computed independently, thereby making the solution scalable. Numerical examples for both homogeneous and heterogeneous multiagent systems are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Distributed state estimation by a network of observers under communication and measurement delays

In this paper we study the distributed state estimation of autonomous dynamic systems, under arbitrarily large communication and measurement delays. In the distributed estimation problem, we consider a network of observer agents that cannot independently determine all the states of the observed plant from their own collected measurements, but they must collaborate with neighboring agents to agree on the correct state estimation. Our current work considers the presence of arbitrarily large time delays in the communication and measurements of the observer agents, and we propose a framework for distributed observers following the low gain methodology. Sufficient conditions for the stability of the corresponding observation error dynamics are derived, including an upper bound for the low gain parameter of the observer equations. In the presence of bounded noisy measurements from the plant, we derive the upper-bound on the local estimation errors. The results of the distributed state estimation is then applied to propose a solution to the leader–follower synchronization problem for multi-agent systems under leader-agent and inter-agent communication delays. An illustrative example is also presented to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical analysis.

Adaptive synchronization of multi-agent systems via variable impulsive control

This paper mainly focuses on the adaptive synchronization problem of multi-agent systems via distributed impulsive control method. Different from the existing investigations of impulsive synchronization with fixed time impulsive inputs, the proposed distributed variable impulsive protocol allows that the impulsive inputs are chosen within a time period (namely impulsive time window) which can be described by the distances of the left (right) endpoints or the centers between two adjacent impulsive time windows. Obviously, this kind of flexible control scheme is more effective in practical systems (especially for the complex environment with physical restrictions). Moreover, the proposed adaptive control technique is helpful to solve the problem with uncertain system parameters. By means of Lyapunov stability theory, impulsive differential equations and adaptive control technique, three sufficient impulsive consensus conditions are given to realize the synchronization of a class of multi-agent nonlinear systems. Finally, two numerical simulations are provided to illustrate the validity of the theoretical analysis.

Synchronization in a network of identical continuous‐ or discrete‐time agents with unknown nonuniform constant input delay

SummaryThis paper studies the synchronization problem for multiagent systems with identical continuous‐ or discrete‐time agents with unknown nonuniform constant input delays. The agents are connected via full‐ or partial‐state coupling. The agents are assumed to be asymptotically null controllable, ie, all eigenvalues are in the closed left‐half complex plane for continuous‐time agents or in the closed unit disc for discrete‐time agents. We derive an upper bound for the input delay tolerance, which explicitly depends on the agent dynamics. Moreover, for any unknown delay satisfying this upper bound, a low‐gain–based protocol design methodology is proposed without relying on exact knowledge of the network topology such that synchronization is achieved among agents for any network graph in a given set.

Design of stable parallel feedforward compensator and its application to synchronization problem

This paper addresses the design problem of a stable parallel feedforward compensator V for a given SISO LTI plant P (possibly being of non-minimum phase and/or having relative degree greater than one). The objective of the problem is that their parallel interconnection P+V becomes minimum phase having relative degree one. Based on the classical results of simultaneous stabilization, a necessary and sufficient condition for solving the problem is presented as well as a design procedure for constructing such a compensator. The proposed feedforward compensator allows the control system to have the three useful features: (1) the ability that assigns the zeros of P+V to a region of complex numbers having arbitrary negative real parts, (2) infinite gain margin property of P+V controlled by a static output feedback, and (3) block diagonal structure of P+V. These features are extensively exploited in the synchronization problem of multi-agent systems to achieve arbitrary fast convergence rate and to have the synchronized trajectory independent of the initial conditions and parameters of the involved dynamic controllers.

Synchronization of multi-agent systems with event-based communication

Abstract This paper investigates the synchronization problem of multi-agent systems with event-based communication. It is assumed that contionuous-time synchronization protocolls guarentee the asymptotic synchronization of the agents. It will be shown that event-based synchronization protocols reduce the communication effort in comparison to the continuous-time synchronization algorithms, while the convergence of the subsystems to a bounded region around the synchronous trajectory is guaranteed.

Event-based synchronisation of multi-agent systems

This paper investigates the synchronization problem of multi-agent systems with event-based communication. A communication between the agents is invoked only after an event condition has been fulfilled, which can be checked in a decentralized way. Event-based synchronization reduces the communication effort in comparison to the continuous-time synchronization algorithms, while the convergence of the subsystems to a bounded region around the synchronous trajectory is guaranteed.