Synchronization of Multi-Agent Systems in the Presence of Disturbances and Delays

This monograph explores the synchronization of large-scale, multi-agent dynamical systems in the presence of disturbances, delays, and time-varying networks. Drawing upon their extensive work in this area, the authors provide a thorough treatment of agents with higher-order dynamics, different classes of models for agents, and the underlying networks representing the agents’ actions. The high technical level of their presentation and their rigorous mathematical approach make this a timely and valuable resource that will fill a gap in the existing literature.

Divided into two sections, the first part of the book focuses on state synchronization of homogeneous multi-agent systems. The authors consider state synchronization by determining control strategies for both continuous- and discrete-time systems that achieve state synchronization under both full- and partial-state coupling. The chapters that follow examine multi-agent systems with both linear and nonlinear time-varying agents, input-delays for continuous- and discrete-time systems, and communication delays for continuous-time systems. The second part of the book is dedicated to regulated output synchronization of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with linear and nonlinear agents. Both sections of the book include performance considerations in H2- and H-infinity norms in the presence of external disturbances.

Research on synchronization of multi-agent systems has been growing in popularity and is highly interdisciplinary, with applications to automobile systems, aerospace systems, multiple-satellite GPS and high-resolution satellite imagery, aircraft formations, highway traffic platooning, industrial process control with multiple processes, and more. Synchronization of Multi-Agent Systems in the Presence of Disturbances and Delays will therefore be of interest to upper-level graduate students, researchers, and engineers in industry working on interconnected dynamical systems.