Bipartite Fixed-Time Output Consensus of Heterogeneous Linear Multiagent Systems.

Area of Science:

• Control Theory
• Systems Engineering
• Robotics

Background:

• Investigates the bipartite fixed-time output consensus problem in heterogeneous linear multiagent systems (MASs).
• Addresses challenges posed by antagonistic interactions between agents, affecting state sign estimation.
• Highlights the need for distributed observers that do not rely on global information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop distributed observers for estimating leader states and system matrices in MASs.
• To design nonlinear control laws for achieving bipartite fixed-time output consensus.
• To ensure the settling time is independent of the initial states of the agents.

Main Methods:

• Proposed a distributed bipartite fixed-time observer to estimate the leader's state, matching modulus but not necessarily sign.
• Developed an adaptive bipartite fixed-time observer for fully distributed estimation of leader state and system matrix.
• Designed distributed nonlinear control laws based on the proposed observers to achieve the desired consensus.

Main Results:

• Achieved bipartite fixed-time output consensus for heterogeneous linear MASs.
• Demonstrated that the settling time upper bound is independent of initial agent states.
• Validated the effectiveness of the proposed observers and control laws through examples.

Conclusions:

• The proposed adaptive distributed observers and control laws effectively solve the bipartite fixed-time output consensus problem.
• The method ensures rapid and robust consensus regardless of initial conditions, crucial for practical applications.
• This work advances the control theory for complex multiagent systems with antagonistic interactions.