Flocking control protocol design for a class of multi-agent systems based on hamiltonian framework

This paper investigates the flocking control protocol design problem for multi-agent systems of “boids” model with fixed topology, and presents several new results on the control design via Hamiltonian function method. Firstly, a Hamiltonian structure is provided for the systems by choosing a kind of suitable Hamiltonian functions. Secondly, based on the Hamiltonian structure provided, two kinds of flocking control protocols are designed only by using local information of each agent. One protocol is with linear alignment rule and the other is with a kind of nonlinear alignment rule. It is shown that, under the two flocking control protocols, all the agents´ velocities can converge to the same one, and stable flocking behaviors can be guaranteed. Finally, study of simulation reveals that the flocking protocols proposed in this paper work very well in the flocking control of multi-agent systems of “boids” model.