Cooperative tracking for multi-agent systems with general linear dynamics via continuous controllers

This paper deals with the cooperative tracking problem for multi-agent systems with general linear dynamics. A novel estimator-based tracking algorithm is proposed, together with a sufficient condition for the followers to track the dynamic leader. In this algorithm, an estimator is designed to estimate the unknown control input of the leader. Different from most of the existing algorithms on coordinated tracking problems for multi-agent systems, where discontinuous controllers are used, the control input in this algorithm is continuous. Theoretical analysis shows that the followers can track the leader with ultimately bounded tracking errors, if parameters in the cooperative tracking algorithm are properly chosen. A numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.