Extended-state-observer-based adaptive control for synchronisation of multi-agent systems with unknown nonlinearities

Abstract

This paper studies the problem of synchronisation to a desired trajectory for non-linear multi-agent systems. By introducing extended state observer approach, decentralised adaptive controllers are designed for distributed systems which have non-identical unknown non-linear dynamics. The non-identical unknown non-linear dynamics allows for a tracked command dynamics which is also non-linear and unknown. State variables of agents can be obtained only in the case where leader agent and the network communication topology for multi-agent systems is strongly connected digraph network structures. A Lyapunov-function-based approach is given to show that the tracking error is ultimately bounded. Some simulation results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed techniques in this paper.

Keywords:

• non-linear multi-agent system
• synchronisation control
• adaptive control
• extended state observer

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their detailed comments which helped to improve the quality of the paper.

Additional information

Funding

The work of Hongjiu Yang was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 61203023]; the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China [grant number 2012M510769]; the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Education Department [grant number Q2012060] and the Hebei Provincial Natural Science Fund [grant number F2013203092]. The work of Zhixin Liu was supported partially by the Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbmer 61104033] and the Hebei Provincial Natural Science Fund [grant number F2012203109]. The work of Fuchun Sun was supported by a grant from the Ph.D. Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China [grant number 20110002110015].

Notes on contributors

Hongjiu Yang

Hongjiu Yang was born in Hebei Province, China, in 1981. He received his BS degree in mathematics and applied mathematics and his MS degree in applied mathematics from Hebei University of Science and Technology, Shijiazhuang, China, in 2005 and 2008, respectively. He received his PhD degree in control science and engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China. He is currently a teacher with the Department of Automation, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Yanshan University, China. His research interests include robust control/filter theory, delta operator systems, networked control systems and stochastic systems.

Xiu You

Xiu You was born in Shanxi Province, China, in 1991. She received her BS degree in automation from Yanshan University, Qinhuang-dao, China, in 2012. She is currently working toward the MS degree at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Yanshan University, China. Her research interests include robust control/filter theory, multi-agent systems and networked control systems.

Zhixin Liu

Zhixin Liu was born in Hebei Province, China, in 1976. He received his BS., MS and PhD degrees in control theory and engineering from Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, China, in 2000, 2003 and 2006, respectively. He is currently a professor with the Department of Automation, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Yanshan University, China. He visited the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in 2009. His current research interests include control and coordination of multi-agent systems, wireless sensor/actor networks, wireless sensor networks and applications.

Fuchun Sun

Fuchun Sun was born in Jiangsu Province, China, in 1964. He received his BS and MS degrees from Naval Aeronautical Engineering Academy, Yantai, China, in 1986 and 1989, respectively, and his PhD degree from the Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, in 1998. He worked for over 4 years for the Department of Automatic Control at the Naval Aeronautical Engineering Academy. From 1998 to 2000 he was a postdoctoral fellow of the Department of Automation at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Now he is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. His research interests include intelligent control, networked control system and management, neural networks, fuzzy systems, non-linear systems and robotics. He has authored and co-authored two books and over 100 papers which have appeared in various journals and conference proceedings. Dr Sun is the recipient of the excellent Doctoral Dissertation Prize of China in 2000 and the Choon-Gang Academic Award by Korea in 2003, and was recognised as a Distinguished Young Scholar in 2006 by the Natural Science Foundation of China. He has been a member of the Technical Committee on Intelligent Control of the IEEE Control System Society since 2006. He serves as an associated editor of IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems and Mechatronics.