In this paper, PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controllers will be designed to solve the tracking problem for a class of coupled multi-agent systems, where each agent is described by a second-order high-dimensional nonlinear uncertain dynamical system, which only has access to its own tracking error information and does not need to communicate with others. This paper will show that a 3-dimensional manifold can be constructed based on the information about the Lipschitz constants of the system nonlinear dynamics, such that whenever the three parameters of each PID controller are chosen from the manifold, the whole multi-agent system can be stabilized globally and the tracking error of each agent approaches to zero asymptotically. For a class of coupled first-order multi-agent nonlinear uncertain systems, a PI controller will be designed to stabilize the whole system.

This paper addresses a channel scheduling problem for group of dynamically decoupled nonlinear subsystems with actuators connected through digital communication channels and controlled by a centralized controller. Due to the limited communication capacity, only one channel can be activated and hence there is only one pair of sensor and actuator can communicate with the controller at each time instant. In addition, the communication channels are not reliable so Markovian packed dropout is introduced. A predictive control framework is adopted for controller/scheduler co-design to alleviate the performance loss caused by the limited communication capacity. Instead of sending a single control value, the controller sends a sequence of predicted control values to a selected actuator so that there are control input candidates which can be fed to the subsystem when the actuator does not communicate with the controller. A stochastic algorithm is proposed to schedule the usage of the communication medium and sufficient conditions on stochastic stability are given under some mild assumptions.

In recent years, networked distributed control systems (NDCS) have received research attention. Two of the main challenges that such systems face are possible delays in the communication network and the effect of strong interconnections between agents. This paper considers an NDCS that has delays in the communication network, as well as strong interconnections between its agents. The control objective is to make each agent track efficiently a reference model by attenuating the effect of strong interconnections via feedback based on the delayed information. First, the authors assume that each agent knows its own dynamics, as well as the interconnection parameters, but receives information about the states of its neighbors with some communication delay. The authors propose a distributed control scheme and prove that if the interconnections can be weakened and if the communication delays are small enough, then the proposed scheme guarantees that the tracking error of each agent is bounded with a bound that depends on the size of the weakened interconnections and delays, and reduces to zero as these uncertainties reduce to zero. The authors then consider a more realistic situation where the interconnections between agents are unknown despite the cooperation and sharing of state information. For this case the authors propose a distributed adaptive control scheme and prove that the proposed scheme guarantees that the tracking errors are bounded and small in the mean square sense with respect to the size of the weakened interconnections and delays, provided the weakened interconnections and time delays are small enough. The authors then consider the case that each agent knows neither its dynamics nor the interconnection matrices. For this case the authors propose a distributed adaptive control scheme and prove that the proposed scheme guarantees that the tracking errors are bounded and small in the mean square sense provided the weakened interconnections and time delays are small enough. Finally, the authors present an illustrative example to present the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed schemes.

This paper investigates both the robust semi-global leaderless consensus problem and the robust semi-global containment control problem for a group of identical linear systems with imperfect actuators. The imperfect actuators are characterized by nonlinearities such as saturation and dead zone and there input output relationships are not precisely known. The dynamics of follower agents are also affected by the input additive disturbances. Low-and-high gain feedback consensus protocols are constructed to solve these problems. More specifically, it is shown that robust semi-global leaderless consensus can be achieved over a connected undirected graph and robust semi-global containment control can be achieved when each follower agent has access to the information of at least one leader agent. Numerical simulation illustrates the theoretical results.

This paper studies the output synchronization problem for a class of networked non-linear multi-agent systems with switching topology and time-varying delays. To synchronize the outputs, a leader is introduced whose connectivity to the followers varies with time, and a novel data-driven consensus protocol based on model free adaptive control is proposed, where the reference input of each follower is designed to be the time-varying average of the neighboring agents’ outputs. Both the case when the leader is with a prescribed reference input and the case otherwise are considered. The proposed protocol allows for time-varying delays, switching topology, and does not use the agent structure or the dynamics information implicitly or explicitly. Sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the closed-loop stability, and conditions for consensus convergence are obtained, where only a joint spanning tree is required. Numerical simulations and practical experiments are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed protocol.

This paper studies a distributed robust resource allocation problem with nonsmooth objective functions under polyhedral uncertain allocation parameters. In the considered distributed robust resource allocation problem, the (nonsmooth) objective function is a sum of local convex objective functions assigned to agents in a multi-agent network. Each agent has a private feasible set and decides a local variable, and all the local variables are coupled with a global affine inequality constraint, which is subject to polyhedral uncertain parameters. With the duality theory of convex optimization, the authors derive a robust counterpart of the robust resource allocation problem. Based on the robust counterpart, the authors propose a novel distributed continuous-time algorithm, in which each agent only knows its local objective function, local uncertainty parameter, local constraint set, and its neighbors’ information. Using the stability theory of differential inclusions, the authors show that the algorithm is able to find the optimal solution under some mild conditions. Finally, the authors give an example to illustrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm.

In this paper, adaptive event-based consensus of multi-agent systems with general linear dynamics is considered. A novel adaptive event-based controller and a state-dependent triggering function are proposed for each agent. The consensus can be achieved without the assumption that (A,B) is stabilizable. Furthermore, the Zeno-behavior of the concerned closed-loop system is also excluded under certain conditions. Finally, a numerical simulation example is presented to show the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

This paper investigates the issue of stabilization for discrete-time dynamical systems (DDS) by event-triggered impulsive control (ETIC). Based on some relatively simple threshold constants, three levels of event conditions are set and thus the ETIC scheme is designed. Three cases for ETIC with and without time-delays and data dropouts are studied respectively, and the criteria on exponential stability are derived for the controlled DDS. The stabilization in the form of exponential stability is achieved for DDS under the designed ETIC with or without time-delays. And in the case of the ETIC data dropouts, the conditions of exponential stabilization are derived for DDS and the maximal allowable dropout rates for ETIC are estimated. Finally, one example with numerical simulations is worked out for illustration.

This paper considers the output feedback control and stabilization problems for network control systems (NCSs) with packet dropout and input delay, and the TCP (transmission control protocol) case is mainly investigated. Specifically, whether the control signal is lost can be acknowledged by the receiver in the NCSs. The main contributions are: 1) For the finite horizon case, the “optimal” output feedback control is derived by using the dynamic programming approach, and it is noted that the separation principle holds for the considered situation; 2) For the infinite horizon case, for the first time, the necessary and sufficient stabilization conditions are derived for NCSs with packet dropout and delay.

This paper investigates the problem of global disturbance rejection for a class of switched nonlinear systems where the solvability of the disturbance rejection problem for subsystems is not assumed. The disturbances are assumed to be sinusoidal with completely unknown frequencies, phases and amplitudes. First, as an extension of the classic concept of internal model for non-switched systems, a switched internal model is proposed. Second, in order to solve the problem under study, an adaptive control method is established on the basis of the multiple Lyapunov functions method. Also, adaptive state-feedback controllers of subsystems are designed and incorporated with a switching law to asymptotically reject the unknown disturbances. Finally, an example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design method.

A switched linear quadratic (LQ) differential game over finite-horizon is investigated in this paper. The switching signal is regarded as a non-conventional player, afterwards the definition of Pareto efficiency is extended to dynamics switching situations to characterize the solutions of this multi-objective problem. Furthermore, the switched differential game is equivalently transformed into a family of parameterized single-objective optimal problems by introducing preference information and auxiliary variables. This transformation reduces the computing complexity such that the Pareto frontier of the switched LQ differential game can be constructed by dynamic programming. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness.

This paper develops a large-scale small-gain result for dynamic networks composed of infinite-dimensional subsystems. It is assumed that the subsystems are input-to-output stable (IOS) and unboundedness observable (UO), and the large-scale infinite-dimensional system can be proved to be IOS and UO if the proposed small-gain condition is satisfied.

This paper addresses the composite nonlinear feedback (CNF) control for a class of singleinput single-output nonlinear systems with input saturation to track a time varying reference target with good transient performance. The CNF control law consists of a tracking control law and a performance compensator. The tracking control law is designed to drive the output of the system to track the time varying reference target rapidly, while the performance compensator is used to reduce the overshoot caused by the tracking control law. The stability of the closed-loop system is established. The design procedure and the improvement of transient performance of the closed-loop system are illustrated with a numerical example and the controlled Van del Pol oscillator.

This paper considers the pose synchronization problem of a group of moving rigid bodies under switching topologies where the dwell time of each topology may has no nonzero lower bound. The authors introduce an average dwell time condition to characterize the length of time intervals in which the graphs are connected. By designing distributed control laws of angular velocity and linear velocity, the closed-loop dynamics of multiple rigid bodies with switching topologies can be converted into a hybrid dynamical system. The authors employ the Lyapunov stability theorem, and show that the pose synchronization can be reached under the average dwell time condition. Moreover, the authors investigate the pose synchronization problem of the leader-following model under a similar average dwell time condition. Simulation examples are given to illustrate the results.

To improve the energy efficiency and load-balance in large-scale multi-agent systems, a large-scale distributed cluster algorithm is proposed. At first, a parameter describing the spatial distribution of agents is designed to assess the information spreading capability of an agent. Besides, a competition resolution mechanism is proposed to tackle the competition problem in large-scale multiagent systems. Thus, the proposed algorithm can balance the load, adjust the system network locally and dynamically, reduce system energy consumption. Finally, simulations are presented to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed algorithm.

This paper proposes a solution for the problem of cooperative salvo attack of multiple cruise missiles against targets in a group. Synchronization of the arrival time of missiles to hit their common target, minimizing the time consumption of attack and maximizing the expected damage to group targets are taken into consideration simultaneously. These operational objectives result in a hierarchical mixed-variable optimization problem which includes two types of subproblems, namely the multi-objective missile-target assignment (MOMTA) problem at the upper level and the time-optimal coordinated path planning (TOCPP) problems at the lower level. In order to solve the challenging problem, a recently proposed coordinated path planning method is employed to solve the TOCPP problems to achieve the soonest salvo attack against each target. With the aim of finding a more competent solver for MOMTA, three state-of-the-art multi-objective optimization methods (MOMs), namely NSGA-II, MOEA/D and DMOEA-εC, are adopted. Finally, a typical example is used to demonstrate the advantage of the proposed method. A simple rule-based method is also employed for comparison. Comparative results show that DMOEA-εC is the best choice among the three MOMs for solving the MOMTA problem. The combination of DMOEA-εC for MOMTA and the coordinated path planning method for TOCPP can generate obviously better salvo attack schemes than the rule-based method.

This paper addresses the source seeking problems for an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with the estimated gradients. The AUV is embedded with multiple sensors, which are only able to detect the signal strengths of the source with unknown distribution. To resolve this challenge, a sensor configuration is explicitly designed as a semicircle to estimate gradients of the signal field. Then, a controller is obtained via the estimated gradients to drive the AUV to approach the source. Moreover, an upper bound for the localization error is provided in terms of the radius of the semicircle and the signal distribution. Finally, the authors include a simulation example by applying the strategy to a Remote Environmental Monitoring UnitS (REMUS) for seeking the deepest point of a region of seabed in the South China Sea.

Sensor network deployment is the key for sensors to play an important performance. Based on game theory, first, the authors propose a multi-type sensor target allocation method for the autonomous deployment of sensors, considering exploration cost, target detection value, exploration ability and other factors. Then, aiming at the unfavorable environment, e.g., obstacles and enemy interference, the authors design a method to maintain the connectivity of sensor network, under the conditions of effective detection of the targets. Simulation result shows that the proposed deployment strategy can achieve the dynamic optimization deployment under complex conditions.

This paper considers the simultaneous attack problem of multiple missiles against a maneuvering target. Different from most of the existing literature in which the simultaneous attack problem is formulated as a consensus problem of missiles’ time-to-go estimates, this paper formulates it as the consensus problem of missiles’ ranges-to-go. Based on this strategy, novel distributed guidance laws are proposed to solve the simultaneous attack problem with the target of unknown maneuverability. Adaptive control method is introduced to estimate the upper bound of the target’s acceleration. The effectiveness of the proposed guidance laws is verified both theoretically and numerically.

In this paper, a curved path following control algorithm for miniature unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in winds with constant speed and altitude is developed. Different to the widely considered line or orbit following, the curved path to be followed is defined in terms of the arc-length parameter, which can be straight lines, orbits, B-splines or any other curves provided that they are smooth. The proposed path following control algorithm, named by VF-SMC, is combining the vector field (VF) strategy with the sliding mode control (SMC) method. It is proven that the designed algorithm guarantees the tracking errors to be a bounded ball in the presence of winds, with the aid of the Lyapunov method and the BIBO stability. The algorithm is validated both in Matlab-based simulations and high-fidelity semi-physical simulations. In Matlab-based simulations, the proposed algorithm is verified for straight lines, orbits and B-splines to show its wide usage in different curves. The high-fidelity semi-physical simulation system is composed of actual autopilot controller, ground station and X-Plane flight simulator in-loop. In semi-physical simulations, the proposed algorithm is verified for B-spline path following under various gain parameters and wind conditions thoroughly. All experiments show the accuracy in curved path following and the excellent robustness to wind disturbances of the proposed algorithm.

In order to avoid the overcharge and overdischarge damages, and to improve the lifetime of the lithium-ion batteries, it is essential to keep the cell voltages in a battery pack at the same level, i.e., battery equalization. Based on the bi-directional modified ´ Cuk converter, variable universe fuzzy controllers are proposed to adaptively maintain equalizing currents between cells of a serially connected battery pack in varying conditions. The inputs to the fuzzy controller are the voltage differences and the average voltages of adjacent cell pairs. A large voltage difference requires large equalizing current while adjacent cells both with low/high voltages can only stand small discharge/charge currents. Compared with the conventional fuzzy control method, the proposed method differs in that the universe can shrink or expand as the effects of the input changes. This is important as the input may change in a small range. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed variable universe fuzzy control method has fast equalization speed and good adaptiveness for varying conditions.