Consensus of first-order multi-agent systems with intermittent interaction

This paper studies the consensus problem of multiple agents with continuous-time first-order dynamics, where each agent can only obtain its states relative to its neighbors at sampling instants. It is assumed that the sampling period is different from the period of zero-order hold. Some sufficient and necessary conditions for consensus, which reveal the relationship among the interaction topology, controller gains, and the periods of sampler and zero-order hold, are provided. Moreover, the convergence rate is compared with that in the case when the period of zero-order hold is the same as the sampling period. Simulations are performed to validate the theoretical results. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.