Synchronization of Multi-Agent Systems under Time-Varying Network via Time-Delay Approach to Averaging

This paper studies the leader-tracking problem of Multi-Agents Systems under a periodic time-varying communication topology, without requiring the connectivity of the network for all t ≥ 0. The case of both state and communication delays is considered. A fully distributed control protocol, along with the constructive time-delay approach to periodic averaging, are combined in order to solve the problem, thus ensuring that a time-dependent switching control rule preserves the input-to-state stability (ISS) of the entire network, despite the presence of disconnected topologies, state and communication delays. The original closed-loop error systems is transformed into a neutral-type system with discrete and distributed delays. ISS analysis of the neutral system employs appropriate Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals leading to simple ISS conditions in terms of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs), whose solution allows finding upper bounds on small parameter, state and communication delays that preserve ISS. Numerical simulations illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.