Tracking Control foe Multi-Agent Systems Using Broadcast Signals Based on Positive Realness

TL;DR

This paper introduces a broadcast-based decentralized control method for multi-agent systems, using positive realness to ensure stability and improve tracking accuracy without inter-agent communication.

Contribution

It proposes a novel nonlinear controller with binary and continuous outputs based on positive realness, enabling autonomous, stable, and adjustable agent actions.

Findings

Proved asymptotic stability of the control system.

Demonstrated reduced tracking error and vibration in simulations.

Validated effectiveness through numerical experiments.

Abstract

Broadcast control is one of decentralized control methods for networked multi-agent systems. In this method, each agent does not communicate with the others, and autonomously determines its own action using only the same signal sent from a central controller. Therefore, it is effective for systems with numerous agents or no-communication between agents. However, it is difficult to manage the stochastic action process of agents considering engineering applications. This paper proposes a decentralized control such that agents autonomously select the deterministic actions. Firstly, a non-linear controller with a binary output of each agent including 0 is introduced in order to express stop actions autonomously when the target is achieved. The asymptotic stability to the target is proved. Secondly, the controller can adjust the tendency of actions in order to make it easier to manage the actions. Thirdly, the controller is extended to that with a continuous output in order to reduce the tracking error to the target and the output vibration. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed control is verified by numerical experiments.