Data-driven consensus for non-linear networked multi-agent systems with switching topology and time-varying delays

• Published in: IET control theory & applications 2018-08, Vol.12 (12), p.1773-1779
• Main Authors: Li, Chang-Jiang, Liu, Guo-Ping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brief Paper; closed loop systems; closed‐loop stability; control system synthesis; delayed information; delays; distributed control; distributed data‐driven consensus protocols; input; multi‐agent systems; multi‐robot systems; neighbouring agents; networked control systems; nonlinear networked multiagent systems; output consensus problem; output data; outputs; stability; time‐varying average; time‐varying delays; time‐varying systems; topology
• ISSN: 1751-8644; 1751-8652; 1751-8652
• DOI: 10.1049/iet-cta.2017.0847

This study investigates the output consensus problem for a class of non-linear networked multi-agent systems with switching topology and time-varying delays. To synchronise the outputs of the agents, novel distributed data-driven consensus protocols are proposed, where the reference input is designed to be the time-varying average of the agents' output. To avoid the self-tracking phenomenon, the delayed information is introduced in the protocol. The proposed methods merely depend on the input and output data of the neighbouring agents, without using explicit or implicit information of its mathematical model. Sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the closed-loop stability and consensus, with the convergence rate obtained. Numerical and practical examples are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed protocols.