Robust consensus tracking of multi-agent systems with uncertain Lur'e-type non-linear dynamics

This study addresses the robust consensus tracking problem of multi-agent systems with uncertain Lur'e-type nonlinear dynamics under a fixed topology. To achieve consensus tracking, a class of discontinuous control protocols are first proposed, which rely on the relative information among the neighbouring agents. Theoretical analysis indicates that the robust consensus tracking of uncertain Lur'e network can be achieved if the coupling strength and the control gain are both larger than the thresholds depending on some global information of the network. Then, an adaptive consensus tracking protocol is further designed to solve the robust consensus tracking problem as a modification of a fully distributed version without the need of any global information of the multi-agent systems. Furthermore, as an expansion of the discontinuous protocols, a new class of continuous control laws are developed based on the boundary layer concept. Finally, a couple of examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results. © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2013.