Event-triggered finite-time consensus control of leader-follower multi-agent systems with unknown velocities

We proposed an event-triggered finite-time consensus (FTC) control scheme for second-order leader-follower nonlinear multi-agent systems (MASs) with unknowable velocities and external disturbances. Because of the immeasurable problem of system velocities, a terminal sliding mode observer (TSMO) which forces velocity errors to converge to zero in a finite time is introduced. Then, construct a distributed event-triggered control law by backstepping method, so that each follower can update the control law independently based on its state error threshold. It is demonstrated that the control scheme can achieve FTC stability and simultaneously ensure the global robustness of the system via the Lyapunov stability analysis. Meantime, the control scheme reduces frequent updates of the control law. Furthermore, there exists a positive lower bound for the inter event time sequence so that the Zeno phenomenon is rejected. In conclusion, the validity of the consensus control protocol is verified by the numerical simulations.

Automated summary

We propose an event-triggered finite-time consensus (FTC) control scheme for second-order leader-follower nonlinear multi-agent systems (MASs) with unknowable velocities and external disturbances. A terminal sliding mode observer (TSMO) is introduced to force velocity errors to converge to zero in a finite time. A distributed event-triggered control law is then constructed using the backstepping method, allowing each follower to update the control law independently based on its state error threshold. The control scheme achieves FTC stability and ensures the global robustness of the system via Lyapunov stability analysis, while reducing the frequency of control law updates. Furthermore, a positive lower bound for the inter event time sequence rejects the occurrence of the Zeno phenomenon. Numerical simulations verify the validity of the consensus control protocol.