Robust adaptive leaderless consensus of unknown non-minimum phase linear multi-agent systems subject to disturbances and/or unmodeled dynamics

This article investigates the problem of robust adaptive leaderless consensus for heterogeneous uncertain nonminimumphase linear multi-agent systems over directed communication graphs. Each agent is assumed tobe of unknown nominal dynamics and also subject to external disturbances and/or unmodeled dynamics. Anovel distributed robust adaptive control strategy is proposed. It is shown that the robust adaptive leaderlessconsensus problem is solved with the proposed control strategy under some sufficient conditions. Two examplesare provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed control strategy.

Hyperbolic Tangent Function-Based Protocols for Global/Semi-Global Finite-Time Consensus of Multi-Agent Systems

This paper investigates the problem of global/semi-global finite-time consensus for integrator-type multi-agent sys-tems.New hyperbolic tangent function-based protocols are pro-posed to achieve global and semi-global finite-time consensus for both single-integrator and double-integrator multi-agent systems with leaderless undirected and leader-following directed commu-nication topologies.These new protocols not only provide an explicit upper-bound estimate for the settling time,but also have a user-prescribed bounded control level.In addition,compared to some existing results based on the saturation function,the pro-posed approach considerably simplifies the protocol design and the stability analysis.Illustrative examples and an application demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed protocols.

Designing Proportional-Integral Consensus Protocols for Second-Order Multi-Agent Systems Using Delayed and Memorized State Information

This paper is concerned with consensus of a secondorder linear time-invariant multi-agent system in the situation that there exists a communication delay among the agents in the network.A proportional-integral consensus protocol is designed by using delayed and memorized state information.Under the proportional-integral consensus protocol,the consensus problem of the multi-agent system is transformed into the problem of asymptotic stability of the corresponding linear time-invariant time-delay system.Note that the location of the eigenvalues of the corresponding characteristic function of the linear time-invariant time-delay system not only determines the stability of the system,but also plays a critical role in the dynamic performance of the system.In this paper,based on recent results on the distribution of roots of quasi-polynomials,several necessary conditions for Hurwitz stability for a class of quasi-polynomials are first derived.Then allowable regions of consensus protocol parameters are estimated.Some necessary and sufficient conditions for determining effective protocol parameters are provided.The designed protocol can achieve consensus and improve the dynamic performance of the second-order multi-agent system.Moreover,the effects of delays on consensus of systems of harmonic oscillators/double integrators under proportional-integral consensus protocols are investigated.Furthermore,some results on proportional-integral consensus are derived for a class of high-order linear time-invariant multi-agent systems.

Bipartite consensus problems of Lurie multi-agent systems over signed graphs: A contraction approach

This paper examines the bipartite consensus problems for the nonlinear multi-agent systems in Lurie dynamics form with cooperative and competitive communication between different agents. Based on the contraction theory, some new conditions for the nonlinear Lurie multi-agent systems reaching bipartite leaderless consensus and bipartite tracking consensus are presented. Compared with the traditional methods, this approach degrades the dimensions of the conditions, eliminates some restrictions of the system matrix, and extends the range of the nonlinear function. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the efficiency of our results.

Fixed-Time Antidisturbance Consensus Tracking for Nonlinear Multiagent Systems With Matching and Mismatching Disturbances

In this paper,fixed-time consensus tracking for mul-tiagent systems(MASs)with dynamics in the form of strict feed-back affine nonlinearity is addressed.A fixed-time antidistur-bance consensus tracking protocol is proposed,which consists of a distributed fixed-time observer,a fixed-time disturbance observer,a nonsmooth antidisturbance backstepping controller,and the fixed-time stability analysis is conducted by using the Lyapunov theory correspondingly.This paper includes three main improvements.First,a distributed fixed-time observer is developed for each follower to obtain an estimate of the leader’s output by utilizing the topology of the communication network.Second,a fixed-time disturbance observer is given to estimate the lumped disturbances for feedforward compensation.Finally,a nonsmooth antidisturbance backstepping tracking controller with feedforward compensation for lumped disturbances is designed.In order to mitigate the“explosion of complexity”in the tradi-tional backstepping approach,we have implemented a modified nonsmooth command filter to enhance the performance of the closed-loop system.The simulation results show that the pro-posed method is effective.

Dynamic Event-Triggered Consensus Control for Input Constrained Multi-Agent Systems With a Designable Minimum Inter-Event Time

This paper investigates the consensus control of multi-agent systems(MASs) with constrained input using the dynamic event-triggered mechanism(ETM).Consider the MASs with small-scale networks where a centralized dynamic ETM with global information of the MASs is first designed.Then,a distributed dynamic ETM which only uses local information is developed for the MASs with large-scale networks.It is shown that the semi-global consensus of the MASs can be achieved by the designed bounded control protocol where the Zeno phenomenon is eliminated by a designable minimum inter-event time.In addition,it is easier to find a trade-off between the convergence rate and the minimum inter-event time by an adjustable parameter.Furthermore,the results are extended to regional consensus of the MASs with the bounded control protocol.Numerical simulations show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

A Systematic Literature Review on Blockchain Consensus Mechanisms’ Security: Applications and Open Challenges

This study conducts a systematic literature review(SLR)of blockchain consensus mechanisms,an essential protocols that maintain the integrity,reliability,and decentralization of distributed ledger networks.The aim is to comprehensively investigate prominent mechanisms’security features and vulnerabilities,emphasizing their security considerations,applications,challenges,and future directions.The existing literature offers valuable insights into various consensus mechanisms’strengths,limitations,and security vulnerabilities and their real-world applications.However,there remains a gap in synthesizing and analyzing this knowledge systematically.Addressing this gap would facilitate a structured approach to understanding consensus mechanisms’security and vulnerabilities comprehensively.The study adheres to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses(PRISMA)guidelines and computer science standards and reviewed 3749 research papers from 2016 to 2024,excluding grey literature,resulting in 290 articles for descriptive analysis.The research highlights an increased focus on blockchain consensus security,energy efficiency,and hybrid mechanisms within 60%of research papers post-2019,identifying gaps in scalability,privacy,and interoperability for future exploration.By synthesizing the existing research and identifying the key trends,this SLR contributes to advancing the understanding of blockchain consensus mechanisms’security and guiding future research and structured innovation in blockchain systems and applications.

Systematic review with expert consensus on use of extracorporeal hemoadsorption in septic shock:An Indian perspective

BACKGROUND Septic shock is a severe form of sepsis characterised by deterioration in circulatory and cellular-metabolic parameters.Despite standard therapy,the outcomes are poor.Newer adjuvant therapy,such as CytoSorb®extracorporeal haemoadsorption device,has been investigated and shown promising outcome.However,there is a lack of some guidance to make clinical decisions on the use of CytoSorb®haemoadsorption as an adjuvant therapy in septic shock in Indian Setting.Therefore,this expert consensus was formulated.AIM To formulate/establish specific consensus statements on the use of CytoSorb®haemoadsorption treatment based on the best available evidence and contextualised to the Indian scenario.METHODS We performed a comprehensive literature on CytoSorb®haemoadsorption in sepsis,septic shock in PubMed selecting papers published between January 2011 and March 20232021 in English language.The statements for a consensus document were developed based on the summarised literature analysis and identification of knowledge gaps.Using a modified Delphi approach combining evidence appraisal and expert opinion,the following topics related to CytoSorb®in septic shock were addressed:need for adjuvant therapy,initiation timeline,need for Interleukin-6 levels,duration of therapy,change of adsorbers,safety,prerequisite condition,efficacy endpoints and management flowchart.Eleven expert members from critical care,emergency medicine,and the intensive care participated and voted on nine statements and one open-ended question.RESULTS Eleven expert members from critical care,emergency medicine,and the intensive care participated and voted on nine statements and one open-ended question.All 11 experts in the consensus group(100%)participated in the first,second and third round of voting.After three iterative voting rounds and adapting two statements,consensus was achieved on nine statements out of nine statements.The consensus expert panel also recognised the necessity to form an association or society that can keep a registry regarding the use of CytoSorb®for all indications in the open-ended question(Q10)focusing on“future recommendations for CytoSorb®therapy”.CONCLUSION This Indian perspective consensus statement supports and provides guidance on the use of CytoSorb®haemoadsorption as an adjuvant treatment in patients with septic shock to achieve optimal outcomes.

H_∞ Consensus Control of Discrete-Time Multi-Agent Systems Under Network Imperfections and External Disturbance

This paper presents a distributed control protocol for consensus control of multi-agent systems(MASs) under external disturbances and network imperfections, including communication delay and random packet dropout. To comply with the discrete nature of networked systems, in contrast to most of the existing work for MASs under network imperfections,the agents are modeled by discrete-time dynamics. The communication network is considered to be undirected, its delay is considered to be time-varying but bounded, and its packet dropout is modeled by a Bernoulli distributed white sequence.Sufficient conditions in terms of linear matrix inequalities(LMIs)for asymptotic mean-square consensus stability are derived under network imperfections without considering external disturbances.A desired disturbance attenuation level in the presence of both external disturbances and network imperfections is also provided.A simulation example is given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach in coping with network imperfection and disturbances.

Consensus Control of Multi-Agent Systems Using Fault-Estimation-in-the-Loop:Dynamic Event-Triggered Case

The paper develops a novel framework of consensus control with fault-estimation-in-the-loop for multi-agent systems(MASs)in the presence of faults.A dynamic event-triggered protocol(DETP)by adding an auxiliary variable is utilized to improve the utilization of communication resources.First,a novel estimator with a noise bias is put forward to estimate the existed fault and then a consensus controller with fault compensation(FC)is adopted to realize the demand of reliability and safety of addressed MASs.Subsequently,a novel consensus control framework with fault-estimation-in-the-loop is developed to achieve the predetermined consensus performance with the l_(2)-l_(∞)constraint by employing the variance analysis and the Lyapunov stability approaches.Furthermore,the desired estimator and controller gains are obtained in light of the solution to an algebraic matrix equation and a linear matrix inequality in a recursive way,respectively.Finally,a simulation result is employed to verify the usefulness of the proposed design framework.

Consensus tracking protocol and formation control of multi-agent systems with switching topology

Consensus tracking control problems for single-integrator dynamics of multi-agent systems with switching topology are investigated. In order to design effective consensus tracking protocols for a more general class of networks, which are aimed at ensuring that the concerned states of agents converge to a constant or time-varying reference state, new consensus tracking protocols with a constant and time-varying reference state are proposed, respectively. Particularly, by contrast with spanning tree, an improved condition of switching interaction topology is presented. And then, convergence analysis of two consensus tracking protocols is provided by Lyapunov stability theory. Moreover, consensus tracking protocol with a time-varying reference state is extended to achieve the fbrmation control. By introducing formation structure set, each agent can gain its individual desired trajectory. Finally, several simulations are worked out to illustrate the effectiveness of theoretical results. The test results show that the states of agents can converge to a desired constant or time-varying reference state. In addition, by selecting appropriate structure set, agents can maintain the expected formation under random switching interaction topologies.

Consensus Control of Leader-Following Multi-Agent Systems in Directed Topology With Heterogeneous Disturbances

This paper investigates the consensus problem for linear multi-agent systems with the heterogeneous disturbances generated by the Brown motion.Its main contribution is that a control scheme is designed to achieve the dynamic consensus for the multi-agent systems in directed topology interfered by stochastic noise.In traditional ways,the coupling weights depending on the communication structure are static.A new distributed controller is designed based on Riccati inequalities,while updating the coupling weights associated with the gain matrix by state errors between adjacent agents.By introducing time-varying coupling weights into this novel control law,the state errors between leader and followers asymptotically converge to the minimum value utilizing the local interaction.Through the Lyapunov directed method and It?formula,the stability of the closed-loop system with the proposed control law is analyzed.Two simulation results conducted by the new and traditional schemes are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness and advantage of the developed control method.

Consensus of high-order dynamic multi-agent systems with switching topology and time-varying delays

This paper studies the consensus problems for a group of agents with switching topology and time-varying communication delays, where the dynamics of agents is modeled as a high-order integrator. A linear distributed consensus protocol is proposed, which only depends on the agent＇s own information and its neighbors＇ partial information. By introducing a decomposition of the state vector and performing a state space transformation, the closed-loop dynamics of the multi-agent system is converted into two decoupled subsystems. Based on the decoupled subsystems, some sufficient conditions for the convergence to consensus are established, which provide the upper bounds on the admissible communication delays. Also, the explicit expression of the consensus state is derived. Moreover, the results on the consensus seeking of the group of high-order agents have been extended to a network of agents with dynamics modeled as a completely controllable linear time-invariant system. It is proved that the convergence to consensus of this network is equivalent to that of the group of high-order agents. Finally, some numerical examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the main results.

Consensus problems of first-order dynamic multi-agent systems with multiple time delays

Consensus problems of first-order multi-agent systems with multiple time delays are investigated in this paper. We discuss three cases： 1） continuous, 2） discrete, and 3） a continuous system with a proportional plus derivative controller. In each case, the system contains simultaneous communication and input time delays. Supposing a dynamic multi-agent system with directed topology that contains a globally reachable node, the sufficient convergence condition of the system is discussed with respect to each of the three cases based on the generalized Nyquist criterion and the frequency-domain analysis approach, yielding conclusions that are either less conservative than or agree with previously published results. We know that the convergence condition of the system depends mainly on each agent’s input time delay and the adjacent weights but is independent of the communication delay between agents, whether the system is continuous or discrete. Finally, simulation examples are given to verify the theoretical analysis.

Cluster consensus of second-order multi-agent systems via pinning control

This paper investigates the cluster consensus problem for second-order multi-agent systems by applying the pinning control method to a small collection of the agents. Consensus is attained independently for different agent clusters according to the community structure generated by the group partition of the underlying graph and sufficient conditions for both cluster and general consensus are obtained by using results from algebraic graph theory and the LaSalle Invariance Principle. Finally, some simple simulations are presented to illustrate the technique.

Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Consensus in Third Order Multi-Agent Systems

We deal with a consensus control problem for a group of third order agents which are networked by digraphs.Assuming that the control input of each agent is constructed based on weighted difference between its states and those of its neighbor agents, we aim to propose an algorithm on computing the weighting coefficients in the control input. The problem is reduced to designing Hurwitz polynomials with real or complex coefficients. We show that by using Hurwitz polynomials with complex coefficients, a necessary and sufficient condition can be obtained for designing the consensus algorithm. Since the condition is both necessary and sufficient, we provide a kind of parametrization for all the weighting coefficients achieving consensus. Moreover, the condition is a natural extension to second order consensus, and is reasonable and practical due to its comparatively decreased computation burden. The result is also extended to the case where communication delay exists in the control input.

Improvement for consensus performance of multi-agent systems based on delayed-state-derivative feedback

The delayed-state-derivative feedback （DSDF） is in- troduced into the existing consensus protocol to simultaneously improve the robustness to communication delay and accele- rate the convergence speed of achieving the consensus. The frequency-domain analysis, together with the algebra graph the- ory, is employed to derive the sufficient and necessary condition guaranteeing the average consensus. It is shown that introduc- ing the DSDF with the proper intensity in the existing consensus protocol can improve the robustness to communication delay. By analyzing the effect of DSDF on the closed-loop poles, this pa- per proves that for a supercritical-delay multi-agent system, this strategy can also accelerate the convergence speed of achieving the consensus with provided the proper intensity of the DSDE Simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

Consensus and formation control of discrete-time multi-agent systems

Consensus problems for discrete-time multi-agent systems were focused on. In order to design effective consensus protocols, which were aimed at ensuring that the concerned states of agents converged to a common value, a new consensus protocol for general discrete-time multi-agent system was proposed based on Lyapunov stability theory. For discrete-time multi-agent systems with desired trajectory, trajectory tracking and formation control problems were studied. The main idea of trajectory tracking problems was to design trajectory controller such that each agent tracked desired trajectory. For a type of formation problem with fixed formation structure, the formation structure set was introduced. According to the formation structure set, each agent can track its individual desired trajectory. Finally, simulations were provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results. The mlmerical results show that the states of agents converge to zero with consensus protocol, which is said to achieve a consensus asymptotically. In addition, through designing appropriate trajectory controllers, the simulation results show that agents converge to the desired trajectory asymptotically and can form different formations.

Consensus Control With a Constant Gain for Discrete-time Binary-valued Multi-agent Systems Based on a Projected Empirical Measure Method

This paper studies the consensus control of multiagent systems with binary-valued observations.An algorithm alternating estimation and control is proposed.Each agent estimates the states of its neighbors based on a projected empirical measure method for a holding time.Based on the estimates,each agent designs the consensus control with a constant gain at some skipping time.The states of the system are updated by the designed control,and the estimation and control design will be repeated.For the estimation,the projected empirical measure method is proposed for the binary-valued observations.The algorithm can ensure the uniform boundedness of the estimates and the mean square error of the estimation is proved to be at the order of the reciprocal of the holding time(the same order as that in the case of accurate outputs).For the consensus control,a constant gain is designed instead of the stochastic approximation based gain in the existing literature for binary-valued observations.And,there is no need to make modification for control since the uniform boundedness of the estimates ensures the uniform boundedness of the agents’states.Finally,the systems updated by the designed control are proved to achieve consensus and the consensus speed is faster than that in the existing literature.Simulations are given to demonstrate the theoretical results.

Guaranteed Cost Consensus for High-dimensional Multi-agent Systems With Time-varying Delays

Guaranteed cost consensus analysis and design problems for high-dimensional multi-agent systems with time varying delays are investigated. The idea of guaranteed cost con trol is introduced into consensus problems for high-dimensiona multi-agent systems with time-varying delays, where a cos function is defined based on state errors among neighboring agents and control inputs of all the agents. By the state space decomposition approach and the linear matrix inequality(LMI)sufficient conditions for guaranteed cost consensus and consensu alization are given. Moreover, a guaranteed cost upper bound o the cost function is determined. It should be mentioned that these LMI criteria are dependent on the change rate of time delays and the maximum time delay, the guaranteed cost upper bound is only dependent on the maximum time delay but independen of the Laplacian matrix. Finally, numerical simulations are given to demonstrate theoretical results.