Data rate for output feedback consensus of uncertain nonlinear multiagent systems

Abstract

This article considers the data rate problem for output feedback consensus of uncertain nonlinear multiagent systems. Each agent is modeled by an nth order integrator with unknown nonlinear dynamics and unmeasurable states. An (n+2)th order extended state observer (ESO) is first designed to estimate the unmeasurable agent states and the unknown nonlinear dynamics. Based on the output of the ESO and a dynamic encoding and decoding scheme, a distributed consensus protocol is proposed. It is shown that, for a connected undirected network with nth order uncertain nonlinear agents, consensus can be guaranteed with merely one bit information exchange between each pair of adjacent agents at each time step.