Distributed estimation and control over mobile sensor networks with jointly connected topology: Event-triggered approach.

This article deals with the problem of distributed event-triggered tracking control in mobile sensor networks (MSNs) with a jointly connected topology (JCT). Two schemes are proposed for linear and Lipschitz nonlinear MSNs to estimate and track a mobile target. The proposed schemes are established using an event-triggered method to avoid continuous exchange of information between sensor nodes. In comparison with the other research under event-triggered communication strategies where states of the target are available, this paper considers that the states of the target are not available and two event-triggered algorithms are established for sensor nodes to estimate and follow the states of the continuous-time targets that can be seen in various real-world applications. Also, the proposed schemes are designed for the JCT with disconnected graphs which means the communication topology of the MSN is not required to be connected for all time instants. By employing the Cauchy convergence criterion and a common Lyapunov function, sufficient conditions are also established to ensure event-based tracking control subject to JCT. The effectiveness of the proposed work is verified by presenting simulation examples.

Distributed estimation and control for nonlinear multi-agent systems in the presence of input delay or external disturbances.

This paper establishes some distributed algorithms for nonlinear multi-agent systems to solve tracking control (TC) problem subject to external disturbances or delay. First, a distributed controller is introduced based on a distributed observer for the nodes to estimate and follow a nonlinear target. Then, utilizing a future predictor (FP) and an external disturbance observer, the proposed controller is developed for each agent with delay or disturbances to deal with TC problem. Stability of the control laws and FP is also analyzed and sufficient conditions are proposed for the TC of the multi-agent systems (MASs). Simulation examples validate the efficiency of the presented methods.

Tracking control of nonholonomic mobile agents with external disturbances and input delay.

This paper investigates the tracking control problem of chained-form nonholonomic multiagent systems (MASs). In contrast to the existing works in which some algorithms have been designed for ideal conditions, the destructive factors including external disturbances and input delay are considered in the dynamics of the agents in this work. Two distributed controllers are proposed such that the states of the controlled agents can track the states of the target in the presence of external disturbances and input delay. For this purpose, a distributed controller is firstly suggested based on a switching method to solve the tracking control problem for nonholonomic MASs with external disturbances. Then, the proposed control law is extended based on a state predictor for the tracking control of agents in the presence of input delay. The stability analysis of the two distributed controllers is also provided. Simulation results show the promising performance of the proposed algorithms.