Robust Synchronization of Uncertain Linear Multi-Agent Systems

This paper deals with robust synchronization of uncertain multi-agent networks. Given a network with for each of the agents identical nominal linear dynamics, we allow uncertainty in the form of additive perturbations of the transfer matrices of the nominal dynamics. The perturbations are assumed to be stable and bounded in
H
_∞
-norm by some a priori given desired tolerance. We derive state space formulas for observer based dynamic protocols that achieve synchronization for all perturbations bounded by this desired tolerance. It is shown that a protocol achieves robust synchronization if and only if each controller from a related finite set of feedback controllers robustly stabilizes a given, single linear system. Our protocols are expressed in terms of real symmetric solutions of certain algebraic Riccati equations and inequalities, and also involve weighting factors that depend on the eigenvalues of the graph Laplacian. For undirected network graphs we show that within the class of such dynamic protocols, a guaranteed achievable tolerance can be obtained that is proportional to the quotient of the second smallest and the largest eigenvalue of the Laplacian. We also extend our results to additive nonlinear perturbations with
L
₂
-gain bounded by a given tolerance.