Output feedback consensus for high-order linear systems having uniform ranks under switching topology

This study addresses a challenging problem on the consensus of multi-agent systems, that is, simultaneously deals with the high-order linear multi-agent systems (including single and double integrators, and harmonic oscillators) and time-varying interaction topology. The interaction topology is assumed to switch among a finite number of connected undirected graphs having a non-vanishing dwell time. It is also constrained that each agent can use only the system outputs of its neighbouring agents for the purpose of feedback. Under these conditions, the authors propose two high-gain dynamic consensus protocols, one with multiple time-scale based and the other single time-scale, for the uniform rank systems without finite zeros. An example is provided to validate the proposed protocols.