Robust Cooperative Output Regulation for Networks of Hyperbolic PIDE–ODE Systems

In this article, the robust cooperative output regulation problem for multiagent systems (MASs) with general heterodirectional hyperbolic PIDE–ODE agents is considered. This setup also covers networks of ODEs with arbitrarily long input and output delays. The output of the agents can be defined at all boundaries and in-domain and may depend on the ODE state while disturbances act on the agents in-domain, at the boundaries, the output, and the ODE. The communication network is described by a constant digraph and if its Laplacian is reducible, then heterogeneous agents are permitted also in the nominal case. The solution is based on the cooperative internal model principle, which requires to include a diffusively driven internal model in the controller. The corresponding state feedback regulator design starts with a local backstepping stabilization of the coupled hyperbolic PIDE–ODE systems. It is shown that the remaining simultaneous stabilization of the MAS can be traced back to the simultaneous stabilization of the finite-dimensional cooperative internal model. Solvability conditions in terms of the network topology and the agents' transfer behavior are presented. The new design method is applied to the formation control of a platoon of uncertain heavy ropes carrying loads to verify its applicability. Simulations confirm the synchronization performance achieved by the resulting networked controller.