Consensusability of multi-agent systems via multi-order relative output derivative feedback

This article addressed the consensus control problem for continuous higher-order multi-agent systems with multiple outputs. A novel distributed control protocol with multi-order relative output derivative feedback is proposed to improve dynamic performance for consensus convergence and the highest order of derivative item is decided by relative degree of the agent systems. It is shown that consensus is reached if and only if there exists a common control gain which simultaneously stabilizes N-1 systems in a special form, where N is the number of agents. A simulation is performed to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.