Variable Threshold-Oriented Event-Triggered Cluster Consensus for Groups of Multiagent Systems

Area of Science:

• Control Systems Engineering
• Networked Systems
• Robotics

Background:

• Achieving consensus in multiagent systems (MASs) is crucial for coordinated behavior.
• Existing methods often incur high communication costs.
• Heterogeneous systems and directed topologies present unique challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an event-triggered (ET) control mechanism for leader-following cluster consensus in linear heterogeneous MASs.
• To reduce communication load by optimizing data transmission.
• To address cooperative and competitive interactions within the system.

Main Methods:

• Design of a novel distributed ET control mechanism with a variable threshold function.
• Development of a relative-state feedback-based cluster consensus control protocol.
• Application of Lyapunov stability theory for convergence analysis.
• Extension to ET observer-based output feedback consensus.

Main Results:

• The proposed ET control significantly reduces communication load.
• The variable threshold function ensures smooth triggering and avoids Zeno behavior.
• The control protocol effectively achieves leader-following cluster consensus under directed topologies.
• Theoretical results are validated through illustrative examples.

Conclusions:

• The novel ET control strategy is effective for leader-following cluster consensus in heterogeneous MASs.
• The approach minimizes communication overhead while ensuring system stability.
• The method successfully handles complex interaction behaviors and eliminates Zeno phenomena.