Output Consensus of Heterogeneous Multiagent Systems: A Distributed Observer-Based Approach

Abstract

As the control tasks become complex, fulfilling such tasks cooperatively is the first choice in practice. In this article, the output consensus problem of heterogeneous multiagent systems is studied by deploying distributed observers in follower agents. Each observer in the follower only measures part of the leader’s output, which relieves the burden of a simple agent when the leader’s output is of large-scale dimensions. Then, all followers in the system work cooperatively to estimate the full state of the leader. By using parameterized Riccati equation and output regulation theory, sufficient conditions are given to design the distributed observers and the output consensus protocol. Finally, a numerical example is conducted to verify the obtained result.