Hierarchical cooperative control for multiagent systems with switching directed topologies

Area of Science:

• Control Theory
• Networked Systems
• Multiagent Systems

Background:

• Hierarchical cooperative control is crucial for complex networked systems.
• Existing methods often struggle with switching topologies and finite-time objectives.
• Cooperative control in multiagent systems requires robust strategies for leader-follower dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate hierarchical cooperative control for a two-layer networked multiagent system.
• To achieve finite-time formation control for leaders and containment control for followers.
• To develop control strategies effective under switching directed topologies.

Main Methods:

• Proposed two cooperative strategies: centralized-distributed and distributed-distributed control.
• Investigated two switching laws: random switching with dwell time and Markov switching with stationary distribution.
• Employed state transition matrix methods and matrix measure techniques for analysis.

Main Results:

• Derived sufficient conditions for asymptotical containment control.
• Established conditions for exponential almost sure containment control.
• Demonstrated the effectiveness of proposed control schemes through numerical examples.

Conclusions:

• The proposed control strategies are effective for hierarchical cooperative control in multiagent systems with switching topologies.
• Finite-time formation and containment control objectives can be achieved under specified switching laws.
• The theoretical findings are validated by numerical simulations, confirming the robustness of the control schemes.