Time-varying group formation tracking control for uncertain nonlinear high-order fully actuated multiagent systems

The issue of time-varying group formation tracking (TVGFT) control for heterogeneous nonlinear multiagent systems (MASs) with unknown dynamics is studied in the framework of high-order fully actuated system approaches. To achieve the desired TVGFT, two kinds of distributed control protocols are designed, which rely on robust and adaptive control strategies, respectively. The protocols consist of two components: The first is that the nonlinearities of MASs are eliminated by state feedback and the poles are configured in the light of performance requirements; the second is that robust or adaptive control strategy is employed to compensate for uncertainties, depending on the characteristics of the uncertain dynamics. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, the sufficient conditions to achieve TVGFT under two proposed control protocols are provided and proved, and the decay rates of TVGFT error associated with these protocols are further analyzed. Besides, each agent can possess an equivalent status and play the role of either a leader or a follower according to the actual need, and a general procedure is given to label the agents. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of theoretical results.