Attack-Defense Game of Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Systems Under Actuator Faults

This paper investigates N versus N attack-defense game problem of heterogeneous nonlinear multi-agent systems under the condition of actuator faults on the defensive side. Specifically, N attackers need to approach the target area as closely as possible in order to attack it, while N defenders need to approach the attackers as closely as possible and intercept them. We decompose this problem into two N-player nonzero-sum game problems. Based on differential game method, the optimal attacking game strategies for the attackers are first presented. Then, considering that the defenders contains actuator faults, this paper designs a fault observer for each defending agent based on adaptive estimation theory to estimate unknown actuator fault and proposes a novel optimal defense game strategy applicable for actuator fault. To address the problem that it is difficult to directly solve the optimal control strategies in nonlinear systems, we propose an online learning algorithm based on adaptive dynamic programming to obtain approximate solutions for the optimal cost functions and the optimal control strategies. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through theoretical analysis and simulation examples. Note to Practitioners—The problem of attack-defense confrontation for multi-agent systems has a broad practical background, such as resource competition, missile interception, and base defense, etc. By introducing game theory, complex attack-defense confrontation problems for multi-agent systems can be clearly formulated. However, most studies on attack-defense game confrontation are still limited to a small number of intelligent agents. Additionally, actuator faults with frequent and great harm pose significant challenges to the safe and stable operation of multi-agent systems in complex and changeable practical applications. Especially in the attack-defense confrontation scenario, actuator faults may be caused not only by the system’s own physical faults but also by the malicious attacks from attackers. Based on the above considerations, this paper studies the N versus N attack-defense game problem of heterogeneous nonlinear multi-agent systems when the defenders have actuator faults. The proposed control scheme not only ensures the smooth implementation of interception tasks for the defenders with actuator faults, but also significantly saves time and control input energy compared with the traditional formation tracking control method without actuator faults. It is hoped that this paper can provide some inspiration for the attack-defense confrontation problem of multi-agent systems under actuator faults.