Consensus problem of high-order multi-agent systems with external disturbances: An H∞ analysis approach

This paper is devoted to the output consensus problem of directed networks of multiple high-order agents with external disturbances, and proposes a distributed protocol using the neighbors' measured outputs. By defining an appropriate controlled output and conducting a model transformation in two steps, consensus performance analysis of the multi-agent system under the proposed protocol is transformed into a normal H-infinity problem. Then using H-infinity theory of linear systems, conditions are derived to ensure the consensus performance with a prescribed H-infinity index for networks with fixed and switching topologies, respectively. A numerical example of the formation control application is included to validate the theoretical results. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.