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In this article, we investigate a novel reinforcement-learning (RL)-based scheme to address the optimal leader–follower consensus issue for constrained-input continuous-time multiagent systems. First, as for input-constrained problems, the fundamental smooth assumption is not satisfied for the value function. To deal with this problem, we employ the method of vanishing viscosity solutions to relax this smooth assumption to a continuity assumption for the value function, which broadens the scope of RL applications. Second, the control cost functions take a more general form which guarantees the continuity of the optimal control policy instead of the specific integrand form used in previous input-constrained RL-based schemes. Based on these results, we introduce a novel identifier–critic–actor structure to extend the conventional critic–actor RL framework into a distributed model-free one, where the learning of the identifier, critic, and actor is online and simultaneous. We provide the simulation examples to validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relative states between neighbors are ubiquitous in large-scale systems, and the relative state saturations need to be considered when designing controllers based on this relative state information. This article investigates the consensus control of the delayed multiagent systems under the relative state saturations. By means of an incidence matrix, the consensus under the relative state saturations is transformed into the stability of edge dynamics operating on constrained sets. To enable the edge states to stay within the constrained sets, a novel nonlinear protocol is designed by embedding an elaborate saturation function. Sufficient conditions are identified, under which not only consensus is achieved but also relative state saturations do not occur. Moreover, this analytical result can address the consensus problem while preserving connectivity, within the limited communication range framework. Simulations illustrate the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the consensus tracking of exponentially unstable multiagent systems with time-varying input delay. The truncated predictor feedback approach is utilized for designing delay-dependent state and output feedback protocols. And the explicit conditions that can realize consensus tracking are established in terms of parametric Lyapunov equations and scalar inequalities. Besides, the protocol design algorithms under the maximum allowable delay and the maximum convergence rate are, respectively, provided. Compared with the existing results, the salient characteristic of the current results is to reveal the quantitative relationship among the time delay, unstable plant, network topologies, and the convergence rate. Specifically, for achieving the consensus tracking, the synchronization force from network connectivity needs to dominate the anti-synchronization force from unstable open-loop poles and input delays; the maximum allowable input delay is inversely proportional to the sum of the unstable open-loop poles; the convergence rate becomes smaller as the input delay bounds or/and the sum of the unstable poles in plant increase. Numerical simulations confirm the effectiveness of the proposed theoretical design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Containment control is an important issue in the consensus problem of multiagent systems (MASs). This article presents an output-based containment control strategy for a class of nonaffine nonlinear MASs with uncertainies and directed topology. With the help of differential homeomorphism transform and the idea of active disturbance rejection control (ADRC), a nonaffine nonlinear MAS is transformed into an affine one with uncertainties. Two filters with extended states in each follower are designed with the idea of extended state observer to reconstruct the states of the transformed MAS. Then, uncertainties of the MAS are compensated with the help of the estimations of the extended states. Moreover, the derivative of the virtual control signal in the backstepping technique is replaced by a tracking differentiator (TD), overcoming the so-called “explosion of complexity” problem. By means of Lyapunov theory, the containment errors of the followers are proven to converge to a small neighborhood around the origin via an appropriate choice of parameters. Simulation examples are provided to demonstrate the proposed control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers integral sliding-mode control (ISMC) for multiagent systems with matched disturbances through adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) method. A distributed disturbance observer (DDO) is designed for each agent to generate the disturbance estimation. Using the disturbance estimation, an ISMC scheme is proposed to reject the input disturbance and obtain the equivalent local neighbor consensus sliding-mode dynamics. Then, a discount performance function is designed for each agent, and ADP technique is utilized to address the optimal consensus control for the equivalent sliding-mode dynamics online. Based on the gradient descent algorithm, we propose the adaptive weight tuning laws for the critic-actor neural networks (NNs) to carry out the ADP method. Furthermore, the local neighbor consensus errors and the weight estimation errors for the critic-actor NNs are proved to be uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB). Finally, the practical example is applied to validate the effectiveness of our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]