Event-Triggered Synchronization for Nonlinear Multi-Agent Systems with Sampled Data

In this paper, the synchronization problem for networked nonlinear agents with time-varying control gain is studied under a synchronous periodic data sampling framework. To achieve synchronization, both the state-dependent and time dependent event-triggered protocols are proposed. The effectiveness of these protocols is justified by Lyapunov stability theorem based on rigorous mathematical proof, facilitated by a delayed differential inequality with time dependent parameters. Instead of specifying a lower bound for the control gain, as others usually suggested, our criteria rely on its time-average and thus allow higher flexibility in controller design. Numerical simulations are also presented to confirm the reaching of synchronization and demonstrate the wide applicability of the proposed protocols.