Consensus of multi-agent nonlinear dynamic systems under slow switching topology

This paper is devoted to the consensus problem of multi-agent systems with inherent nonlinear dynamics. To reflect the practical environment of multi-agent systems, the communication topology is assumed to switch slowly within a finite set of directed topologies restricted by an average dwell time switching signal. By taking advantage of tools from switched systems and piecewise Lyapunov functions, it is shown that consensus can be guaranteed for the choice of suitable parameters if each topology contains a directed spanning tree. Explicit analytical conditions on both feedback gain and average dwell time of admissible switching signals for consensus are also offered. Finally, an example with computer simulation is provided to illustrate the theoretical results.