H_∞ consensus control for multi-agent systems with linear coupling dynamics and communication delays

Abstract

This article is devoted to the consensus control problem of a network of autonomous agents with linear coupling dynamics, subject to external disturbances and communication delays, and proposes a distributed state feedback protocol. By applying H _∞ theory of linear systems, delay-independent and -dependent conditions in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) are both derived to ensure consensus of the multi-agent system with a prescribed H _∞ disturbance attenuation index, and the undetermined feedback matrix of the proposed protocol is further solved accordingly. A simulation example is included to validate the theoretical results.

Keywords:

• consensus
• multi-agent systems
• H _∞ control
• external disturbances
• communication delays

Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, the NSFC (60727002, 60774003, 60921001, 90916024), the MOE (20030006003), the COSTIND (A2120061303) and the National 973 programme (2005CB321902).