Composite cooperative synchronization and decentralized learning of multi-robot manipulators with heterogeneous nonlinear uncertain dynamics

This paper studies the problem of composite synchronization and learning of multiple coordinated robot manipulators subject to heterogeneous nonlinear uncertain dynamics under the leader-follower framework. A new two-layer distributed adaptive learning control scheme is proposed, which consists of the first-layer distributed cooperative estimator and the second-layer decentralized deterministic learning controller. The first layer aims to enable each robotic agent to estimate the leader’s information. The second layer is responsible for not only controlling each individual robotic agent to track over desired reference trajectory, but also accurately identifying/learning each robot’s nonlinear uncertain dynamics. Design and implementation of this two-layer distributed controller can be carried out in a fully-distributed manner, which do not require any global information including global connectivity of the communication network. The Lyapunov method is applied to rigorously analyze stability and parameter convergence of the resulting closed-loop system. Numerical simulations on a team of two-degree-of-freedom robot manipulators have been conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed results.     

Interventional bipartite consensus on coopetition networks with unknown dynamics

In this paper, an interventional bipartite consensus problem is considered for a high-order multi-agent system with unknown disturbance dynamics. The interactions among the agents are cooperative and competitive simultaneously and thus the interaction network (just called coopetition network in sequel for simplicity) is conveniently modeled by a signed graph. When the coopetition network is structurally balanced, all the agents are split into two competitive subgroups. An exogenous system (called leader for simplicity) is introduced to intervene the two competitive subgroups such that they can reach a bipartite consensus. The unknown disturbance dynamics are assumed to have linear parametric models. With the help of the notation of a disagreement state variable, decentralized adaptive laws are proposed to estimate the unknown disturbances and a dynamic output-feedback consensus control is designed for each agent in a fully distributed fashion, respectively. The controller design guarantees that the state matrix of the closed-loop system can be an arbitrary predefined Hurwitz matrix. Under the assumption that the coopetition network is structurally balanced and the leader is a root of the spanning tree in an augmented graph, the bipartite consensus and the parameter estimation are analyzed by invoking a common Lyapunov function method when the coopetition network is time-varying according to a piecewise constant switching signal. Finally, simulation results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.     

Connectivity-preserving approximation-free design for synchronized tracking of uncertain networked nonaffine nonlinear multi-agent systems

This paper presents a connectivity-preserving approximation-free design strategy for the distributed synchronized tracking of uncertain nonlinear multi-agent systems with limited communication ranges. All nonaffine nonlinearities in pure-feedback form are assumed to be unknown. The main contribution of this paper is to achieve approximation-free synchronized tracking while preserving the initial interaction patterns among agents. To this end, each synchronization error term is individually transformed to a nonlinear error function with a predefined time-varying function. The local tracking laws using only the relative output information among agents are designed via these nonlinear error terms. The connectivity preservation and preassigned tracking performance of the proposed synchronized tracking system are recursively analyzed in the Lyapunov sense, without employing any function approximators and potential functions. Finally, the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed strategy are demonstrated through simulation examples.     

Event-triggered adaptive control of multi-agent systems with saturated input and partial state constraints

In this paper, we study the consensus tracking control problem of a class of strict-feedback multi-agent systems (MASs) with uncertain nonlinear dynamics, input saturation, output and partial state constraints (PSCs) which are assumed to be time-varying. An adaptive distributed control scheme is proposed for consensus achievement via output feedback and event-triggered strategy in directed networks containing a spanning tree. To handle saturated control inputs, a linear form of the control input is adopted by transforming the saturation function. The radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) is applied to approximate the uncertain nonlinear dynamics. Since the system outputs are the only available data, a high-gain adaptive observer based on RBFNN is constructed to estimate the unmeasurable states. To ensure that the constraints of system outputs and partial states are never violated, a barrier Lyapunov function (BLF) with time-varying boundary function is constructed. Event-triggered control (ETC) strategy is applied to save communication resources. By using backstepping design method, the proposed distributed controller can guarantee the boundedness of all system signals, consensus tracking with a bounded error and avoidance of Zeno behavior. Finally, the correctness of the theoretical results is verified by computer simulation.     

Adaptive synchronization of complex dynamic networks with switching parameters subject to state constraints in power system

This paper deals with the synchronization control of power complex networks with switching parameters. In the meantime, the node state constraints are considered during the synchronization process. Admittedly, synchronization problem encountered in power complex networks is becoming progressively important due to the increasing connection and disconnection operations resulting from sustainable energy and controllable load. Hereon, the network model considering switching parameters of each node is established to describe the topology variation of power systems that may be confronted in practical terms. Then, by utilizing the adaptive backstepping technique with a barrier Lyapunov function (BLF), a novel synchronization controller is constructed recursively which accomplishes the nodes full states tracking within the predefined transient behavior. Owing to the characteristic of BLF, the designed controller as well as its adaptive law could guarantee both the constrained state of each node restricted by a prescribed range and the synchronization performance. Meanwhile, the bounded output of the system could track the desired trajectory. Finally, scenario simulations are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method.     

Containment control of singular heterogeneous multi-agent systems

In this paper, we first consider the containment control problem of singular heterogeneous multi-agent systems, where all the followers converge to the convex hull spanned by the leaders. To solve this problem, we propose two distributed control laws: one is based on the state feedback control framework, which is suitable for the case that the full state information of each follower is accessible; and the other is based on the output regulation framework, where each follower only can access to its output. Furthermore, the distributed observers are designed for every follower to estimate the convex combination of the leader states which is determined by the communication graph. It should be noted that our results can also regard the non-singular multi-agent systems’ containment control problem as a special case. Finally, simulation results corroborate the effectiveness of our analytical results.     

Adaptive synchronization of complex networks with general distributed update laws for coupling weights

This paper discusses adaptive synchronization control for complex networks interacted in an undirected weighted graph, and aims to provide a novel and general approach for the design of distributed update laws for adaptively adjusting coupling weights. The proposed updating laws are very general in the sense that they encompass most weight update laws reported in the literature as special cases, and also provide new insights in the analysis of network system evolution and graph weight convergence. We show a rigorous proof for the synchronization stability of the overall complex network to a synchronized state, and demonstrate the convergence of adaptive weights for each edge to some bounded constants. A detailed comparison with available results is provided to elaborate the new features and advantages of the proposed adaptive strategies as compared with conventional adaptive laws. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is also validated by several typical simulations.     

Output feedback robust H∞ control for spacecraft rendezvous system subject to input saturation: A gain scheduled approach

In this paper, the problem of output feedback robust H_∞ control for spacecraft rendezvous system with parameter uncertainties, disturbances and input saturation is investigated. Firstly, a full-order state observer is designed to reconstruct the full state information, whose gain matrix can be obtained by solving the linear matrix inequality (LMI). Subsequently, by combining the parametric Riccati equation approach and gain scheduled technique, an observer-based robust output feedback gain scheduled control scheme is proposed, which can make full use of the limited control capacity and improve the control performance by scheduling the control gain parameter increasingly. Rigorous stability analyses are shown that the designed discrete gain scheduled controller has faster convergence performance and better robustness than static gain controller. Finally, the performance and advantage of the proposed gain scheduled control scheme are demonstrated by numerical simulation.     

Adaptive distributed tracking control for non-affine multi-agent systems with state constraints and dead-zone input

In this paper, an adaptive distributed control protocol is proposed for non-affine multi-agent system with nonlinear dead-zone input and state constraints under the condition of directed topology. In order to overcome the difficulties caused by non-affine terms in the system, the nonlinear dynamics system is transformed. Then, the neural network technology is introduced to approximate the unknown non-affine terms for the obtained system. State constraints and dead-zone input are common system problems. In order to solve these problems, the barrier Lyapunov function is introduced in this paper. According to the barrier Lyapunov function and backstepping method, an adaptive distributed controller is designed, so that state variables do not violate constraint bounds and the system is not affected by dead-zone input. By Lyapunov stability theory, it is proved that the signals of each follower are cooperative semi-global uniform ultimate boundedness (CSUUB), and the outputs of the followers track the output of the leader. Simulation example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Leader-follower synchronization controller design for a network of boundary-controlled wave PDEs with structured time-varying perturbations and general disturbances

A feedback controller based on an infinite dimensional observer is proposed to solve the synchronous control problem of network wave equations with time-varying and general perturbations at the boundary. An agent in the network as a virtual leader, and all remaining agents need to incrementally track the status of the virtual leader and each agent is controlled by the Neumann-type drive through the boundary. In this paper, by adopting the idea of the active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) technology, the design of the synchronous controller is divided into three parts and has various functions in this paper. Firstly, it compensates the total disturbance asymptotically. Secondly, it ensures the asymptotic convergence between the network state and the virtual leader state to track the virtual leader. Finally, it ensures that the paired states are synchronized. The convergence of infinite dimensional systems and the suitability of closed-loop systems are analyzed and proved. Three network wave equations with disturbance observer feedback control are simulated numerically, and the simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Observer-based output regulation of cooperative-competitive high-order multi-agent systems

In this paper, a coopetitive output regulation problem is considered for general linear multi-agent systems with antagonistic interactions, where not all the agents have access to the state, the output, the system matrix and the output matrix of the exogenous system or exosystem. In this sense, the internal model incorporation of the system matrix of the exosystem is also only available to some agents. Thus, we propose distributed observers for each agent: (i) To estimate the state, the output, the system matrix and the output matrix, and (ii) the unavailable internal model of the exosystem. Then, a distributed dynamic output feedback controller is proposed for each agent to solve the coopetitive output regulation problem. The exponential stability of the closed-loop system is analyzed with the output regulation theory. Finally, some simulation results are presented to validate the proposed control strategy.     

Second-order observability of matrix-weight-based networks

This study focuses on the observability of second-order linear time invariant (LTI) systems with incommensurable output matrices through a matrix-weighted graph. Here, the observability of such systems refers to that the relative outputs have synchronized solutions for the identical LTI systems. Compared with most of existing results, relying on scalar networks (i.e., the weight of edges is a constant), this study investigates the observability in a matrix-weight-based network. Some necessary and sufficient conditions for the observability have been obtained by the space analysis, spectral analysis and matrix decomposition, respectively. Moreover, the relationship between the observability and the connectivity of its interconnection graph is also discussed. Examples and simulations are shown to verify the theoretical results.     

Finite/fixed-time synchronization control of coupled memristive neural networks

Finite-time and fixed-time synchronization (FAFS) of coupled memristive neural networks (CMNNs) with discontinuous feedback functions are explored in this paper. Firstly, a more comprehensive stability theory is systematically established. Secondly, by designing adaptive feedback controller and discontinuous feedback controller, both finite-time and fixed-time synchronization can be realized through regulating the main control parameter. Thirdly, 1-norm and quadratic-norm Lyapunov functions are considered simultaneously in this article, while in estimating the settling time, the former one is more accurate than the latter one under the same synchronization criteria. Finally, in numerical simulation, the analysis and comparison of the proposed controllers are given to show the effectiveness of the corresponding results.     

Robust gain-scheduled output feedback yaw stability control for in-wheel-motor-driven electric vehicles with external yaw-moment

This paper presents a robust gain-scheduled output feedback yaw stability H_∞ controller design to improve vehicle yaw stability and handling performance for in-wheel-motor-driven electric vehicles. The main control objective is to track the desired yaw references by managing the external yaw moment. Since vehicle lateral states are difficult to obtain, the state feedback controller normally requires vehicle full-state feedback is a critical challenge for vehicle lateral dynamics control. To deal with the challenge, the robust gain-scheduled output feedback controller design only uses measurements from standard sensors in modern cars as feedback signals. Meanwhile, parameter uncertainties in vehicle lateral dynamics such as tire cornering stiffness and vehicle inertial parameters are considered and handled via the norm-bounded uncertainty, and linear parameter-varying polytope vehicle model with finite vertices is established through reducing conservative. The resulting robust gain-scheduled output feedback yaw stability controller is finally designed, and solved in term of a set of linear matrix inequalities. Simulations for single lane and double lane change maneuvers are implemented to verify the effectiveness of developed approach with a high-fidelity, CarSim^®, full-vehicle model. It is confirmed from the results that the proposed controller can effectively preserve vehicle yaw stability and lateral handling performance.     

PI consensus error transformation for adaptive cooperative control of nonlinear multi-agent systems

A solution is provided in this paper for the adaptive approximate consensus problem of nonlinear multi-agent systems with unknown and non-identical control directions assuming an underlying graph topology having a spanning tree. This is achieved with the introduction of a novel variable transformation called PI consensus error transformation. The new variables include the position error of each agent from some reference trajectory chosen by him, which represents the agent’s selection for the desired swarm trajectory, along with an integral term of the weighted total displacement of the agent’s position from all neighbor positions. It is proven that if these new variables are bounded and regulated to zero, then asymptotic approximate consensus among all agents is ensured. Using classical Nussbaum gain based techniques, distributed controllers are designed to regulate the PI consensus error variables to zero and ultimately solve the approximate agreement problem. The proposed approach also allows for a specific calculation of the final consensus trajectory based on the controller parameter selection and the associated graph topology. It is shown that all agent positions converge towards a neighborhood of the weighted average of all agents reference trajectories. Simulation results verify our theoretical derivations.     

Formation control for a string of interconnected second-order systems via target feedback

This paper investigates the formation control of interconnected second-order systems. Each agent is assumed to be capable of measuring its own absolute velocity and the relative positions with respect to its neighboring agents, whereas the target formation is described by absolute positions of all agents in a global coordinate. For such formation control problems, no distributed control policy was reported in existing literature. This paper focuses on the string connection structure of the agents and proposes a distributed control policy that takes the form of purely state feedback without incorporating any feed-forward component. The closed-loop system equation is characterized by an oscillation matrix whose entries are the feedback controller gains. Formation control is accomplished by formulating the agents’ target positions as feedback controller gains. Moreover, it is shown that for agent models described by double integrators, each of the agents located at the two endpoints of the string structure should know its own absolute position. For a class of agent models where each agent’s acceleration depends on its own position, the control laws do not need to use the absolute position. For both system models, the target formations that are asymptotically reachable by the proposed control laws are specified explicitly. Numerical simulations have been conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.