This paper addresses the synchronization of follower agents’state vectors with that of a leader in high-order nonlinear multi-agent systems.The proposed low-complexity control scheme employs high-gain observers to es...This paper addresses the synchronization of follower agents’state vectors with that of a leader in high-order nonlinear multi-agent systems.The proposed low-complexity control scheme employs high-gain observers to estimate higher-order synchronization errors,enabling the controller to rely solely on relative output measurements.This approach significantly reduces the dependence on full-state information,which is often infeasible or costly in practical engineering applications.An output feedback control strategy is developed to overcome these limitations while ensuring robust and effective synchronization.Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and validate the theoretical findings.展开更多
Multi-Agent Systems(MAS),which consist of multiple interacting agents,are crucial in Cyber-Physical Systems(CPS),because they improve system adaptability,efficiency,and robustness through parallel processing and colla...Multi-Agent Systems(MAS),which consist of multiple interacting agents,are crucial in Cyber-Physical Systems(CPS),because they improve system adaptability,efficiency,and robustness through parallel processing and collaboration.However,most existing unsupervised meta-learning methods are centralized and not suitable for multi-agent systems where data are distributed stored and inaccessible to all agents.Meta-GMVAE,based on Variational Autoencoder(VAE)and set-level variational inference,represents a sophisticated unsupervised meta-learning model that improves generative performance by efficiently learning data representations across various tasks,increasing adaptability and reducing sample requirements.Inspired by these advancements,we propose a novel Distributed Unsupervised Meta-Learning(DUML)framework based on Meta-GMVAE and a fusion strategy.Furthermore,we present a DUML algorithm based on Gaussian Mixture Model(DUMLGMM),where the parameters of the Gaussian-mixture are solved by an Expectation-Maximization algorithm.Simulations on Omniglot and Mini Image Net datasets show that DUMLGMM can achieve the performance of the corresponding centralized algorithm and outperform non-cooperative algorithm.展开更多
This paper investigates the consensus tracking control problem for high order nonlinear multi-agent systems subject to non-affine faults,partial measurable states,uncertain control coefficients,and unknown external di...This paper investigates the consensus tracking control problem for high order nonlinear multi-agent systems subject to non-affine faults,partial measurable states,uncertain control coefficients,and unknown external disturbances.Under the directed topology conditions,an observer-based finite-time control strategy based on adaptive backstepping and is proposed,in which a neural network-based state observer is employed to approximate the unmeasurable system state variables.To address the complexity explosion problem associated with the backstepping method,a finite-time command filter is incorporated,with error compensation signals designed to mitigate the filter-induced errors.Additionally,the Butterworth low-pass filter is introduced to avoid the algebraic ring problem in the design of the controller.The finite-time stability of the closed-loop system is rigorously analyzed with the finite-time Lyapunov stability criterion,validating that all closed-loop signals of the system remain bounded within a finite time.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is verified through a simulation example.展开更多
This paper focuses on the leader-following positive consensus problems of heterogeneous switched multi-agent systems.First,a state-feedback controller with dynamic compensation is introduced to achieve positive consen...This paper focuses on the leader-following positive consensus problems of heterogeneous switched multi-agent systems.First,a state-feedback controller with dynamic compensation is introduced to achieve positive consensus under average dwell time switching.Then sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the positive consensus.The gain matrices of the control protocol are described using a matrix decomposition approach and the corresponding computational complexity is reduced by resorting to linear programming and co-positive Lyapunov functions.Finally,two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the results obtained.展开更多
This paper addresses the consensus problem of nonlinear multi-agent systems subject to external disturbances and uncertainties under denial-ofservice(DoS)attacks.Firstly,an observer-based state feedback control method...This paper addresses the consensus problem of nonlinear multi-agent systems subject to external disturbances and uncertainties under denial-ofservice(DoS)attacks.Firstly,an observer-based state feedback control method is employed to achieve secure control by estimating the system's state in real time.Secondly,by combining a memory-based adaptive eventtriggered mechanism with neural networks,the paper aims to approximate the nonlinear terms in the networked system and efficiently conserve system resources.Finally,based on a two-degree-of-freedom model of a vehicle affected by crosswinds,this paper constructs a multi-unmanned ground vehicle(Multi-UGV)system to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.Simulation results show that the proposed control strategy can effectively handle external disturbances such as crosswinds in practical applications,ensuring the stability and reliable operation of the Multi-UGV system.展开更多
This paper mainly focuses on the velocity-constrained consensus problem of discrete-time heterogeneous multi-agent systems with nonconvex constraints and arbitrarily switching topologies,where each agent has first-ord...This paper mainly focuses on the velocity-constrained consensus problem of discrete-time heterogeneous multi-agent systems with nonconvex constraints and arbitrarily switching topologies,where each agent has first-order or second-order dynamics.To solve this problem,a distributed algorithm is proposed based on a contraction operator.By employing the properties of the stochastic matrix,it is shown that all agents’position states could converge to a common point and second-order agents’velocity states could remain in corresponding nonconvex constraint sets and converge to zero as long as the joint communication topology has one directed spanning tree.Finally,the numerical simulation results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.展开更多
This article investigates the time-varying output group formation tracking control(GFTC)problem for heterogeneous multi-agent systems(HMASs)under switching topologies.The objective is to design a distributed control s...This article investigates the time-varying output group formation tracking control(GFTC)problem for heterogeneous multi-agent systems(HMASs)under switching topologies.The objective is to design a distributed control strategy that enables the outputs of the followers to form the desired sub-formations and track the outputs of the leader in each subgroup.Firstly,novel distributed observers are developed to estimate the states of the leaders under switching topologies.Then,GFTC protocols are designed based on the proposed observers.It is shown that with the distributed protocol,the GFTC problem for HMASs under switching topologies is solved if the average dwell time associated with the switching topologies is larger than a fixed threshold.Finally,an example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.展开更多
In this paper,the distributed optimal formation control problem of heterogeneous Euler–Lagrange multi-agent systems with generic formation constraints and inequality constraints is investigated.Based on the primal–d...In this paper,the distributed optimal formation control problem of heterogeneous Euler–Lagrange multi-agent systems with generic formation constraints and inequality constraints is investigated.Based on the primal–dual dynamics and the adaptive control technique,a distributed optimal formation controller consists of a velocity reference signal generator and a velocity tracking controller is proposed.By using the optimality condition,the relationship between the equilibrium point of the closed-loop system and the optimal solution of the optimization problem is established.Then,by utilizing Lyapunov stability analysis,it is rigorously proved that the optimal formation is reached with the proposed controller.Lastly,simulation examples are provided to substantiate the theoretical results.展开更多
Formation control in multi-agent systems has become a critical area of interest due to its wide-ranging applications in robotics,autonomous transportation,and surveillance.While various studies have explored distribut...Formation control in multi-agent systems has become a critical area of interest due to its wide-ranging applications in robotics,autonomous transportation,and surveillance.While various studies have explored distributed cooperative control,this review focuses on the theoretical foundations and recent developments in formation control strategies.The paper categorizes and analyzes key formation types,including formation maintenance,group or cluster formation,bipartite formations,event-triggered formations,finite-time convergence,and constrained formations.A significant portion of the review addresses formation control under constrained dynamics,presenting both modelbased and model-free approaches that consider practical limitations such as actuator bounds,communication delays,and nonholonomic constraints.Additionally,the paper discusses emerging trends,including the integration of eventdriven mechanisms and AI-enhanced coordination strategies.Comparative evaluations highlight the trade-offs among various methodologies regarding scalability,robustness,and real-world feasibility.Practical implementations are reviewed across diverse platforms,and the review identifies the current achievements and unresolved challenges in the field.The paper concludes by outlining promising research directions,such as adaptive control for dynamic environments,energy-efficient coordination,and using learning-based control under uncertainty.This review synthesizes the current state of the art and provides a road map for future investigation,making it a valuable reference for researchers and practitioners aiming to advance formation control in multi-agent systems.展开更多
This paper proposes a Multi-Agent Attention Proximal Policy Optimization(MA2PPO)algorithm aiming at the problems such as credit assignment,low collaboration efficiency and weak strategy generalization ability existing...This paper proposes a Multi-Agent Attention Proximal Policy Optimization(MA2PPO)algorithm aiming at the problems such as credit assignment,low collaboration efficiency and weak strategy generalization ability existing in the cooperative pursuit tasks of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs).Traditional algorithms often fail to effectively identify critical cooperative relationships in such tasks,leading to low capture efficiency and a significant decline in performance when the scale expands.To tackle these issues,based on the proximal policy optimization(PPO)algorithm,MA2PPO adopts the centralized training with decentralized execution(CTDE)framework and introduces a dynamic decoupling mechanism,that is,sharing the multi-head attention(MHA)mechanism for critics during centralized training to solve the credit assignment problem.This method enables the pursuers to identify highly correlated interactions with their teammates,effectively eliminate irrelevant and weakly relevant interactions,and decompose large-scale cooperation problems into decoupled sub-problems,thereby enhancing the collaborative efficiency and policy stability among multiple agents.Furthermore,a reward function has been devised to facilitate the pursuers to encircle the escapee by combining a formation reward with a distance reward,which incentivizes UAVs to develop sophisticated cooperative pursuit strategies.Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in achieving multi-UAV cooperative pursuit and inducing diverse cooperative pursuit behaviors among UAVs.Moreover,experiments on scalability have demonstrated that the algorithm is suitable for large-scale multi-UAV systems.展开更多
This paper proposes an output-feedback based prescribed performance consensus tracking control methodology for a class of heterogeneous multi-agent systems(HMASs)with inconsistent system structure,where the performanc...This paper proposes an output-feedback based prescribed performance consensus tracking control methodology for a class of heterogeneous multi-agent systems(HMASs)with inconsistent system structure,where the performance behavior is allowed to be different from that of each other.Both the heterogeneous system structures and the nonidentical performance requirements make the control problem much more challenging than that of MASs with identical structure and performance requirement.This is mainly due to the coupling effect of the system dynamics and performance restriction of each agent in the cooperative control action.The key to solve this problem is to introduce a dual-phase performance-guaranteed method,in which the consensus tracking error is decomposed into auxiliary tracking error and filter tracking error and then the whole performance control is decomposed into two phases.By confining the two errors respectively,the practical tracking error can be proved to be explicitly confined within an arbitrarily given performance envelope by merely adjusting the design parameters rather than modifying control structure.Moreover,the prescribed performance control(PPC)result is not only uniform with any initial conditions and design parameters,allowing it to be global,but also unifying both the global and semi-global result into one frame,distinguishing itself from most existing PPC works where either only global or only semi-global result is guaranteed.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is confirmed by the simulation conducted on a group of tunnel-diode circuits(TDC).展开更多
This paper investigates the observer-based prescribed-time time-varying output formation-containment(PT-TV-OFC)control problem for heterogeneous multi-agent systems in which the different agents have different state d...This paper investigates the observer-based prescribed-time time-varying output formation-containment(PT-TV-OFC)control problem for heterogeneous multi-agent systems in which the different agents have different state dimensions.The system comprises one tracking leader,multiple formation leaders,and followers,where two types of leaders are used to generate a reference trajectory for movement and achieve specific formation,respectively.Firstly,a prescribed-time dynamics observer is constructed for the formation leaders to estimate the tracking leader's dynamic model and state.On this basis,a prescribed-time control protocol is designed for the formation leaders to achieve time-varying output formation.Then,a prescribed-time convex hull observer is designed for the followers to estimate information regarding the convex hull formed by the formation leaders.Using the estimated convex hull information,a prescribed-time containment control protocol is designed to ensure the followers converge into the convex hull.Furthermore,using Lyapunov stability theory,the stability of systems is proved in detail,which implies that the heterogeneous multi-agent systems can achieve PT-TV-OFC control.Finally,numerical simulations validate the feasibility of the theoretical results.展开更多
This paper addresses the time-varying formation-containment(FC) problem for nonholonomic multi-agent systems with a desired trajectory constraint, where only the leaders can acquire information about the desired traje...This paper addresses the time-varying formation-containment(FC) problem for nonholonomic multi-agent systems with a desired trajectory constraint, where only the leaders can acquire information about the desired trajectory. Input the fixed time-varying formation template to the leader and start executing, this process also needs to track the desired trajectory, and the follower needs to converge to the convex hull that the leader crosses. Firstly, the dynamic models of nonholonomic systems are linearized to second-order dynamics. Then, based on the desired trajectory and formation template, the FC control protocols are proposed. Sufficient conditions to achieve FC are introduced and an algorithm is proposed to resolve the control parameters by solving an algebraic Riccati equation. The system is demonstrated to achieve FC, with the average position and velocity of the leaders converging asymptotically to the desired trajectory. Finally, the theoretical achievements are verified in simulations by a multi-agent system composed of virtual human individuals.展开更多
Both evolutionary computation(EC)and multiagent systems(MAS)study the emergence of intelligence through the interaction and cooperation of a group of individuals.EC focuses on solving various complex optimization prob...Both evolutionary computation(EC)and multiagent systems(MAS)study the emergence of intelligence through the interaction and cooperation of a group of individuals.EC focuses on solving various complex optimization problems,while MAS provides a flexible model for distributed artificial intelligence.Since their group interaction mechanisms can be borrowed from each other,many studies have attempted to combine EC and MAS.With the rapid development of the Internet of Things,the confluence of EC and MAS has become more and more important,and related articles have shown a continuously growing trend during the last decades.In this survey,we first elaborate on the mutual assistance of EC and MAS from two aspects,agent-based EC and EC-assisted MAS.Agent-based EC aims to introduce characteristics of MAS into EC to improve the performance and parallelism of EC,while EC-assisted MAS aims to use EC to better solve optimization problems in MAS.Furthermore,we review studies that combine the cooperation mechanisms of EC and MAS,which greatly leverage the strengths of both sides.A description framework is built to elaborate existing studies.Promising future research directions are also discussed in conjunction with emerging technologies and real-world applications.展开更多
An Interval Type-2(IT-2)fuzzy controller design approach is proposed in this research to simultaneously achievemultiple control objectives inNonlinearMulti-Agent Systems(NMASs),including formation,containment,and coll...An Interval Type-2(IT-2)fuzzy controller design approach is proposed in this research to simultaneously achievemultiple control objectives inNonlinearMulti-Agent Systems(NMASs),including formation,containment,and collision avoidance.However,inherent nonlinearities and uncertainties present in practical control systems contribute to the challenge of achieving precise control performance.Based on the IT-2 Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Model(T-SFM),the fuzzy control approach can offer a more effective solution for NMASs facing uncertainties.Unlike existing control methods for NMASs,the Formation and Containment(F-and-C)control problem with collision avoidance capability under uncertainties based on the IT-2 T-SFM is discussed for the first time.Moreover,an IT-2 fuzzy tracking control approach is proposed to solve the formation task for leaders in NMASs without requiring communication.This control scheme makes the design process of the IT-2 fuzzy Formation Controller(FC)more straightforward and effective.According to the communication interaction protocol,the IT-2 Containment Controller(CC)design approach is proposed for followers to ensure convergence into the region defined by the leaders.Leveraging the IT-2 T-SFM representation,the analysis methods developed for linear Multi-Agent Systems(MASs)are successfully extended to perform containment analysis without requiring the additional assumptions imposed in existing research.Notably,the IT-2 fuzzy tracking controller can also be applied in collision avoidance situations to track the desired trajectories calculated by the avoidance algorithm under the Artificial Potential Field(APF).Benefiting from the combination of vortex and source APFs,the leaders can properly adjust the system dynamics to prevent potential collision risk.Integrating the fuzzy theory and APFs avoidance algorithm,an IT-2 fuzzy controller design approach is proposed to achieve the F-and-C purposewhile ensuring collision avoidance capability.Finally,amulti-ship simulation is conducted to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the designed IT-2 fuzzy controller.展开更多
Dear Editor,This letter investigates predefined-time optimization problems(OPs) of multi-agent systems(MASs), where the agent of MASs is subject to inequality constraints, and the team objective function accounts for ...Dear Editor,This letter investigates predefined-time optimization problems(OPs) of multi-agent systems(MASs), where the agent of MASs is subject to inequality constraints, and the team objective function accounts for impulse effects. Firstly, to address the inequality constraints,the penalty method is introduced. Then, a novel optimization strategy is developed, which only requires that the team objective function be strongly convex.展开更多
Addressing optimal confrontation methods in multi-agent attack-defense scenarios is a complex challenge.Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning(MARL)provides an effective framework for tackling sequential decision-making p...Addressing optimal confrontation methods in multi-agent attack-defense scenarios is a complex challenge.Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning(MARL)provides an effective framework for tackling sequential decision-making problems,significantly enhancing swarm intelligence in maneuvering.However,applying MARL to unmanned swarms presents two primary challenges.First,defensive agents must balance autonomy with collaboration under limited perception while coordinating against adversaries.Second,current algorithms aim to maximize global or individual rewards,making them sensitive to fluctuations in enemy strategies and environmental changes,especially when rewards are sparse.To tackle these issues,we propose an algorithm of MultiAgent Reinforcement Learning with Layered Autonomy and Collaboration(MARL-LAC)for collaborative confrontations.This algorithm integrates dual twin Critics to mitigate the high variance associated with policy gradients.Furthermore,MARL-LAC employs layered autonomy and collaboration to address multi-objective problems,specifically learning a global reward function for the swarm alongside local reward functions for individual defensive agents.Experimental results demonstrate that MARL-LAC enhances decision-making and collaborative behaviors among agents,outperforming the existing algorithms and emphasizing the importance of layered autonomy and collaboration in multi-agent systems.The observed adversarial behaviors demonstrate that agents using MARL-LAC effectively maintain cohesive formations that conceal their intentions by confusing the offensive agent while successfully encircling the target.展开更多
Multimodal dialogue systems often fail to maintain coherent reasoning over extended conversations and suffer from hallucination due to limited context modeling capabilities.Current approaches struggle with crossmodal ...Multimodal dialogue systems often fail to maintain coherent reasoning over extended conversations and suffer from hallucination due to limited context modeling capabilities.Current approaches struggle with crossmodal alignment,temporal consistency,and robust handling of noisy or incomplete inputs across multiple modalities.We propose Multi Agent-Chain of Thought(CoT),a novel multi-agent chain-of-thought reasoning framework where specialized agents for text,vision,and speech modalities collaboratively construct shared reasoning traces through inter-agent message passing and consensus voting mechanisms.Our architecture incorporates self-reflection modules,conflict resolution protocols,and dynamic rationale alignment to enhance consistency,factual accuracy,and user engagement.The framework employs a hierarchical attention mechanism with cross-modal fusion and implements adaptive reasoning depth based on dialogue complexity.Comprehensive evaluations on Situated Interactive Multi-Modal Conversations(SIMMC)2.0,VisDial v1.0,and newly introduced challenging scenarios demonstrate statistically significant improvements in grounding accuracy(p<0.01),chain-of-thought interpretability,and robustness to adversarial inputs compared to state-of-the-art monolithic transformer baselines and existing multi-agent approaches.展开更多
This paper presents Dual Adaptive Neural Topology(Dual ANT),a distributed dual-network metaadaptive framework that enhances ant-colony-based multi-agent coordination with online introspection,adaptive parameter contro...This paper presents Dual Adaptive Neural Topology(Dual ANT),a distributed dual-network metaadaptive framework that enhances ant-colony-based multi-agent coordination with online introspection,adaptive parameter control,and privacy-preserving interactions.This approach improves standard Ant Colony Optimization(ACO)with two lightweight neural components:a forward network that estimates swarm efficiency in real time and an inverse network that converts these descriptors into parameter adaptations.To preserve the privacy of individual trajectories in shared pheromone maps,we introduce a locally differentially private pheromone update mechanism that adds calibrated noise to each agent’s pheromone deposit while preserving the efficacy of the global pheromone signal.The resulting systemenables agents to dynamically and autonomously adapt their coordination strategies under challenging and dynamic conditions,including varying obstacle layouts,uncertain target locations,and time-varying disturbances.Extensive simulations of large grid-based search tasks demonstrated that Dual ANT achieved faster convergence,higher robustness,and improved scalability compared to advanced baselines such asMulti-StrategyACO and Hierarchical ACO.The meta-adaptive feedback loop compensates for the performance degradation caused by privacy noise and prevents premature stagnation by triggering Levy flight exploration only when necessary.展开更多
The paper develops a novel framework of consensus control with fault-estimation-in-the-loop for multi-agent systems(MASs)in the presence of faults.A dynamic event-triggered protocol(DETP)by adding an auxiliary variabl...The paper develops a novel framework of consensus control with fault-estimation-in-the-loop for multi-agent systems(MASs)in the presence of faults.A dynamic event-triggered protocol(DETP)by adding an auxiliary variable is utilized to improve the utilization of communication resources.First,a novel estimator with a noise bias is put forward to estimate the existed fault and then a consensus controller with fault compensation(FC)is adopted to realize the demand of reliability and safety of addressed MASs.Subsequently,a novel consensus control framework with fault-estimation-in-the-loop is developed to achieve the predetermined consensus performance with the l_(2)-l_(∞)constraint by employing the variance analysis and the Lyapunov stability approaches.Furthermore,the desired estimator and controller gains are obtained in light of the solution to an algebraic matrix equation and a linear matrix inequality in a recursive way,respectively.Finally,a simulation result is employed to verify the usefulness of the proposed design framework.展开更多
文摘This paper addresses the synchronization of follower agents’state vectors with that of a leader in high-order nonlinear multi-agent systems.The proposed low-complexity control scheme employs high-gain observers to estimate higher-order synchronization errors,enabling the controller to rely solely on relative output measurements.This approach significantly reduces the dependence on full-state information,which is often infeasible or costly in practical engineering applications.An output feedback control strategy is developed to overcome these limitations while ensuring robust and effective synchronization.Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach and validate the theoretical findings.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Youth Fund(No.62101579)。
文摘Multi-Agent Systems(MAS),which consist of multiple interacting agents,are crucial in Cyber-Physical Systems(CPS),because they improve system adaptability,efficiency,and robustness through parallel processing and collaboration.However,most existing unsupervised meta-learning methods are centralized and not suitable for multi-agent systems where data are distributed stored and inaccessible to all agents.Meta-GMVAE,based on Variational Autoencoder(VAE)and set-level variational inference,represents a sophisticated unsupervised meta-learning model that improves generative performance by efficiently learning data representations across various tasks,increasing adaptability and reducing sample requirements.Inspired by these advancements,we propose a novel Distributed Unsupervised Meta-Learning(DUML)framework based on Meta-GMVAE and a fusion strategy.Furthermore,we present a DUML algorithm based on Gaussian Mixture Model(DUMLGMM),where the parameters of the Gaussian-mixture are solved by an Expectation-Maximization algorithm.Simulations on Omniglot and Mini Image Net datasets show that DUMLGMM can achieve the performance of the corresponding centralized algorithm and outperform non-cooperative algorithm.
基金supported in part by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation under Grant 4252050in part by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars under Grant 62425304in part by the Basic Science Center Programs of NSFC under Grant 62088101.
文摘This paper investigates the consensus tracking control problem for high order nonlinear multi-agent systems subject to non-affine faults,partial measurable states,uncertain control coefficients,and unknown external disturbances.Under the directed topology conditions,an observer-based finite-time control strategy based on adaptive backstepping and is proposed,in which a neural network-based state observer is employed to approximate the unmeasurable system state variables.To address the complexity explosion problem associated with the backstepping method,a finite-time command filter is incorporated,with error compensation signals designed to mitigate the filter-induced errors.Additionally,the Butterworth low-pass filter is introduced to avoid the algebraic ring problem in the design of the controller.The finite-time stability of the closed-loop system is rigorously analyzed with the finite-time Lyapunov stability criterion,validating that all closed-loop signals of the system remain bounded within a finite time.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is verified through a simulation example.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(62463007,62463005)the Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province(625RC710,625MS047)+1 种基金the System Control and Information Processing Education Ministry Key Laboratory Open Funding,China(Scip20240119)the Science Research Funding of Hainan University,China(KYQD(ZR)22180,KYQD(ZR)23180).
文摘This paper focuses on the leader-following positive consensus problems of heterogeneous switched multi-agent systems.First,a state-feedback controller with dynamic compensation is introduced to achieve positive consensus under average dwell time switching.Then sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the positive consensus.The gain matrices of the control protocol are described using a matrix decomposition approach and the corresponding computational complexity is reduced by resorting to linear programming and co-positive Lyapunov functions.Finally,two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the results obtained.
基金The National Natural Science Foundation of China(W2431048)The Science and Technology Research Program of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission,China(KJZDK202300807)The Chongqing Natural Science Foundation,China(CSTB2024NSCQQCXMX0052).
文摘This paper addresses the consensus problem of nonlinear multi-agent systems subject to external disturbances and uncertainties under denial-ofservice(DoS)attacks.Firstly,an observer-based state feedback control method is employed to achieve secure control by estimating the system's state in real time.Secondly,by combining a memory-based adaptive eventtriggered mechanism with neural networks,the paper aims to approximate the nonlinear terms in the networked system and efficiently conserve system resources.Finally,based on a two-degree-of-freedom model of a vehicle affected by crosswinds,this paper constructs a multi-unmanned ground vehicle(Multi-UGV)system to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.Simulation results show that the proposed control strategy can effectively handle external disturbances such as crosswinds in practical applications,ensuring the stability and reliable operation of the Multi-UGV system.
基金2024 Jiangsu Province Youth Science and Technology Talent Support Project2024 Yancheng Key Research and Development Plan(Social Development)projects,“Research and Application of Multi Agent Offline Distributed Trust Perception Virtual Wireless Sensor Network Algorithm”and“Research and Application of a New Type of Fishery Ship Safety Production Monitoring Equipment”。
文摘This paper mainly focuses on the velocity-constrained consensus problem of discrete-time heterogeneous multi-agent systems with nonconvex constraints and arbitrarily switching topologies,where each agent has first-order or second-order dynamics.To solve this problem,a distributed algorithm is proposed based on a contraction operator.By employing the properties of the stochastic matrix,it is shown that all agents’position states could converge to a common point and second-order agents’velocity states could remain in corresponding nonconvex constraint sets and converge to zero as long as the joint communication topology has one directed spanning tree.Finally,the numerical simulation results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.
文摘This article investigates the time-varying output group formation tracking control(GFTC)problem for heterogeneous multi-agent systems(HMASs)under switching topologies.The objective is to design a distributed control strategy that enables the outputs of the followers to form the desired sub-formations and track the outputs of the leader in each subgroup.Firstly,novel distributed observers are developed to estimate the states of the leaders under switching topologies.Then,GFTC protocols are designed based on the proposed observers.It is shown that with the distributed protocol,the GFTC problem for HMASs under switching topologies is solved if the average dwell time associated with the switching topologies is larger than a fixed threshold.Finally,an example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.
基金supported in part by the National Key Research and Development Program of China under Grant 2022YFB3303900in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants 62103277 and 62025305。
文摘In this paper,the distributed optimal formation control problem of heterogeneous Euler–Lagrange multi-agent systems with generic formation constraints and inequality constraints is investigated.Based on the primal–dual dynamics and the adaptive control technique,a distributed optimal formation controller consists of a velocity reference signal generator and a velocity tracking controller is proposed.By using the optimality condition,the relationship between the equilibrium point of the closed-loop system and the optimal solution of the optimization problem is established.Then,by utilizing Lyapunov stability analysis,it is rigorously proved that the optimal formation is reached with the proposed controller.Lastly,simulation examples are provided to substantiate the theoretical results.
基金supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 6237319in part by the Postgraduate Research and Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province under Grant KYCX230479.
文摘Formation control in multi-agent systems has become a critical area of interest due to its wide-ranging applications in robotics,autonomous transportation,and surveillance.While various studies have explored distributed cooperative control,this review focuses on the theoretical foundations and recent developments in formation control strategies.The paper categorizes and analyzes key formation types,including formation maintenance,group or cluster formation,bipartite formations,event-triggered formations,finite-time convergence,and constrained formations.A significant portion of the review addresses formation control under constrained dynamics,presenting both modelbased and model-free approaches that consider practical limitations such as actuator bounds,communication delays,and nonholonomic constraints.Additionally,the paper discusses emerging trends,including the integration of eventdriven mechanisms and AI-enhanced coordination strategies.Comparative evaluations highlight the trade-offs among various methodologies regarding scalability,robustness,and real-world feasibility.Practical implementations are reviewed across diverse platforms,and the review identifies the current achievements and unresolved challenges in the field.The paper concludes by outlining promising research directions,such as adaptive control for dynamic environments,energy-efficient coordination,and using learning-based control under uncertainty.This review synthesizes the current state of the art and provides a road map for future investigation,making it a valuable reference for researchers and practitioners aiming to advance formation control in multi-agent systems.
基金supported by the National Research and Development Program of China under Grant JCKY2018607C019in part by the Key Laboratory Fund of UAV of Northwestern Polytechnical University under Grant 2021JCJQLB0710L.
文摘This paper proposes a Multi-Agent Attention Proximal Policy Optimization(MA2PPO)algorithm aiming at the problems such as credit assignment,low collaboration efficiency and weak strategy generalization ability existing in the cooperative pursuit tasks of multiple unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs).Traditional algorithms often fail to effectively identify critical cooperative relationships in such tasks,leading to low capture efficiency and a significant decline in performance when the scale expands.To tackle these issues,based on the proximal policy optimization(PPO)algorithm,MA2PPO adopts the centralized training with decentralized execution(CTDE)framework and introduces a dynamic decoupling mechanism,that is,sharing the multi-head attention(MHA)mechanism for critics during centralized training to solve the credit assignment problem.This method enables the pursuers to identify highly correlated interactions with their teammates,effectively eliminate irrelevant and weakly relevant interactions,and decompose large-scale cooperation problems into decoupled sub-problems,thereby enhancing the collaborative efficiency and policy stability among multiple agents.Furthermore,a reward function has been devised to facilitate the pursuers to encircle the escapee by combining a formation reward with a distance reward,which incentivizes UAVs to develop sophisticated cooperative pursuit strategies.Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in achieving multi-UAV cooperative pursuit and inducing diverse cooperative pursuit behaviors among UAVs.Moreover,experiments on scalability have demonstrated that the algorithm is suitable for large-scale multi-UAV systems.
基金supported in part by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2023YFA1011803)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(62273064,W2411061)+1 种基金the Chongqing Natural Science Foundation(CSTB2023NSCQ-MSX0588),the Innovation Support Program for International Students Returning to China(cx2022016)the Central University Project(2023CDJKYJH047).
文摘This paper proposes an output-feedback based prescribed performance consensus tracking control methodology for a class of heterogeneous multi-agent systems(HMASs)with inconsistent system structure,where the performance behavior is allowed to be different from that of each other.Both the heterogeneous system structures and the nonidentical performance requirements make the control problem much more challenging than that of MASs with identical structure and performance requirement.This is mainly due to the coupling effect of the system dynamics and performance restriction of each agent in the cooperative control action.The key to solve this problem is to introduce a dual-phase performance-guaranteed method,in which the consensus tracking error is decomposed into auxiliary tracking error and filter tracking error and then the whole performance control is decomposed into two phases.By confining the two errors respectively,the practical tracking error can be proved to be explicitly confined within an arbitrarily given performance envelope by merely adjusting the design parameters rather than modifying control structure.Moreover,the prescribed performance control(PPC)result is not only uniform with any initial conditions and design parameters,allowing it to be global,but also unifying both the global and semi-global result into one frame,distinguishing itself from most existing PPC works where either only global or only semi-global result is guaranteed.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is confirmed by the simulation conducted on a group of tunnel-diode circuits(TDC).
基金supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.62473135 and 62173121)。
文摘This paper investigates the observer-based prescribed-time time-varying output formation-containment(PT-TV-OFC)control problem for heterogeneous multi-agent systems in which the different agents have different state dimensions.The system comprises one tracking leader,multiple formation leaders,and followers,where two types of leaders are used to generate a reference trajectory for movement and achieve specific formation,respectively.Firstly,a prescribed-time dynamics observer is constructed for the formation leaders to estimate the tracking leader's dynamic model and state.On this basis,a prescribed-time control protocol is designed for the formation leaders to achieve time-varying output formation.Then,a prescribed-time convex hull observer is designed for the followers to estimate information regarding the convex hull formed by the formation leaders.Using the estimated convex hull information,a prescribed-time containment control protocol is designed to ensure the followers converge into the convex hull.Furthermore,using Lyapunov stability theory,the stability of systems is proved in detail,which implies that the heterogeneous multi-agent systems can achieve PT-TV-OFC control.Finally,numerical simulations validate the feasibility of the theoretical results.
文摘This paper addresses the time-varying formation-containment(FC) problem for nonholonomic multi-agent systems with a desired trajectory constraint, where only the leaders can acquire information about the desired trajectory. Input the fixed time-varying formation template to the leader and start executing, this process also needs to track the desired trajectory, and the follower needs to converge to the convex hull that the leader crosses. Firstly, the dynamic models of nonholonomic systems are linearized to second-order dynamics. Then, based on the desired trajectory and formation template, the FC control protocols are proposed. Sufficient conditions to achieve FC are introduced and an algorithm is proposed to resolve the control parameters by solving an algebraic Riccati equation. The system is demonstrated to achieve FC, with the average position and velocity of the leaders converging asymptotically to the desired trajectory. Finally, the theoretical achievements are verified in simulations by a multi-agent system composed of virtual human individuals.
基金supported in part by the National Key Research and Development Project(2023YFE0206200)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(U23B2058)+3 种基金in part by Guangdong Regional Joint Foundation Key Project(2022B1515120076)the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF)grant funded by the Korea government(MSIT)(RS-2025-00555463&RS-2025-25456394)the Tianjin Top Scientist Studio Project(24JRRCRC00030)the Tianjin Belt and Road Joint Laboratory(24PTLYHZ00250).
文摘Both evolutionary computation(EC)and multiagent systems(MAS)study the emergence of intelligence through the interaction and cooperation of a group of individuals.EC focuses on solving various complex optimization problems,while MAS provides a flexible model for distributed artificial intelligence.Since their group interaction mechanisms can be borrowed from each other,many studies have attempted to combine EC and MAS.With the rapid development of the Internet of Things,the confluence of EC and MAS has become more and more important,and related articles have shown a continuously growing trend during the last decades.In this survey,we first elaborate on the mutual assistance of EC and MAS from two aspects,agent-based EC and EC-assisted MAS.Agent-based EC aims to introduce characteristics of MAS into EC to improve the performance and parallelism of EC,while EC-assisted MAS aims to use EC to better solve optimization problems in MAS.Furthermore,we review studies that combine the cooperation mechanisms of EC and MAS,which greatly leverage the strengths of both sides.A description framework is built to elaborate existing studies.Promising future research directions are also discussed in conjunction with emerging technologies and real-world applications.
基金founded by the National Science and Technology Council of the Republic of China under contract NSTC113-2221-E-019-032.
文摘An Interval Type-2(IT-2)fuzzy controller design approach is proposed in this research to simultaneously achievemultiple control objectives inNonlinearMulti-Agent Systems(NMASs),including formation,containment,and collision avoidance.However,inherent nonlinearities and uncertainties present in practical control systems contribute to the challenge of achieving precise control performance.Based on the IT-2 Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Model(T-SFM),the fuzzy control approach can offer a more effective solution for NMASs facing uncertainties.Unlike existing control methods for NMASs,the Formation and Containment(F-and-C)control problem with collision avoidance capability under uncertainties based on the IT-2 T-SFM is discussed for the first time.Moreover,an IT-2 fuzzy tracking control approach is proposed to solve the formation task for leaders in NMASs without requiring communication.This control scheme makes the design process of the IT-2 fuzzy Formation Controller(FC)more straightforward and effective.According to the communication interaction protocol,the IT-2 Containment Controller(CC)design approach is proposed for followers to ensure convergence into the region defined by the leaders.Leveraging the IT-2 T-SFM representation,the analysis methods developed for linear Multi-Agent Systems(MASs)are successfully extended to perform containment analysis without requiring the additional assumptions imposed in existing research.Notably,the IT-2 fuzzy tracking controller can also be applied in collision avoidance situations to track the desired trajectories calculated by the avoidance algorithm under the Artificial Potential Field(APF).Benefiting from the combination of vortex and source APFs,the leaders can properly adjust the system dynamics to prevent potential collision risk.Integrating the fuzzy theory and APFs avoidance algorithm,an IT-2 fuzzy controller design approach is proposed to achieve the F-and-C purposewhile ensuring collision avoidance capability.Finally,amulti-ship simulation is conducted to validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the designed IT-2 fuzzy controller.
基金supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(62276119)the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(BK20241764)the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province(KYCX22_2860)
文摘Dear Editor,This letter investigates predefined-time optimization problems(OPs) of multi-agent systems(MASs), where the agent of MASs is subject to inequality constraints, and the team objective function accounts for impulse effects. Firstly, to address the inequality constraints,the penalty method is introduced. Then, a novel optimization strategy is developed, which only requires that the team objective function be strongly convex.
基金co-supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.72371052 and 71871042).
文摘Addressing optimal confrontation methods in multi-agent attack-defense scenarios is a complex challenge.Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning(MARL)provides an effective framework for tackling sequential decision-making problems,significantly enhancing swarm intelligence in maneuvering.However,applying MARL to unmanned swarms presents two primary challenges.First,defensive agents must balance autonomy with collaboration under limited perception while coordinating against adversaries.Second,current algorithms aim to maximize global or individual rewards,making them sensitive to fluctuations in enemy strategies and environmental changes,especially when rewards are sparse.To tackle these issues,we propose an algorithm of MultiAgent Reinforcement Learning with Layered Autonomy and Collaboration(MARL-LAC)for collaborative confrontations.This algorithm integrates dual twin Critics to mitigate the high variance associated with policy gradients.Furthermore,MARL-LAC employs layered autonomy and collaboration to address multi-objective problems,specifically learning a global reward function for the swarm alongside local reward functions for individual defensive agents.Experimental results demonstrate that MARL-LAC enhances decision-making and collaborative behaviors among agents,outperforming the existing algorithms and emphasizing the importance of layered autonomy and collaboration in multi-agent systems.The observed adversarial behaviors demonstrate that agents using MARL-LAC effectively maintain cohesive formations that conceal their intentions by confusing the offensive agent while successfully encircling the target.
文摘Multimodal dialogue systems often fail to maintain coherent reasoning over extended conversations and suffer from hallucination due to limited context modeling capabilities.Current approaches struggle with crossmodal alignment,temporal consistency,and robust handling of noisy or incomplete inputs across multiple modalities.We propose Multi Agent-Chain of Thought(CoT),a novel multi-agent chain-of-thought reasoning framework where specialized agents for text,vision,and speech modalities collaboratively construct shared reasoning traces through inter-agent message passing and consensus voting mechanisms.Our architecture incorporates self-reflection modules,conflict resolution protocols,and dynamic rationale alignment to enhance consistency,factual accuracy,and user engagement.The framework employs a hierarchical attention mechanism with cross-modal fusion and implements adaptive reasoning depth based on dialogue complexity.Comprehensive evaluations on Situated Interactive Multi-Modal Conversations(SIMMC)2.0,VisDial v1.0,and newly introduced challenging scenarios demonstrate statistically significant improvements in grounding accuracy(p<0.01),chain-of-thought interpretability,and robustness to adversarial inputs compared to state-of-the-art monolithic transformer baselines and existing multi-agent approaches.
基金funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Northern Border University,Arar,Saudi Arabia,under project number NBU-FFR-2026-2441-02.
文摘This paper presents Dual Adaptive Neural Topology(Dual ANT),a distributed dual-network metaadaptive framework that enhances ant-colony-based multi-agent coordination with online introspection,adaptive parameter control,and privacy-preserving interactions.This approach improves standard Ant Colony Optimization(ACO)with two lightweight neural components:a forward network that estimates swarm efficiency in real time and an inverse network that converts these descriptors into parameter adaptations.To preserve the privacy of individual trajectories in shared pheromone maps,we introduce a locally differentially private pheromone update mechanism that adds calibrated noise to each agent’s pheromone deposit while preserving the efficacy of the global pheromone signal.The resulting systemenables agents to dynamically and autonomously adapt their coordination strategies under challenging and dynamic conditions,including varying obstacle layouts,uncertain target locations,and time-varying disturbances.Extensive simulations of large grid-based search tasks demonstrated that Dual ANT achieved faster convergence,higher robustness,and improved scalability compared to advanced baselines such asMulti-StrategyACO and Hierarchical ACO.The meta-adaptive feedback loop compensates for the performance degradation caused by privacy noise and prevents premature stagnation by triggering Levy flight exploration only when necessary.
基金supported in part by the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award(DE200101128)。
文摘The paper develops a novel framework of consensus control with fault-estimation-in-the-loop for multi-agent systems(MASs)in the presence of faults.A dynamic event-triggered protocol(DETP)by adding an auxiliary variable is utilized to improve the utilization of communication resources.First,a novel estimator with a noise bias is put forward to estimate the existed fault and then a consensus controller with fault compensation(FC)is adopted to realize the demand of reliability and safety of addressed MASs.Subsequently,a novel consensus control framework with fault-estimation-in-the-loop is developed to achieve the predetermined consensus performance with the l_(2)-l_(∞)constraint by employing the variance analysis and the Lyapunov stability approaches.Furthermore,the desired estimator and controller gains are obtained in light of the solution to an algebraic matrix equation and a linear matrix inequality in a recursive way,respectively.Finally,a simulation result is employed to verify the usefulness of the proposed design framework.
