Distributed consensus control for multiple simple-pendulums system via relative output feedback

This paper researches the consensus problem for networked control system consisting of multiple simple-pendulums driven by corresponding DC motors. First, under the condition that the partial state information of the multiple simple-pendulums system is not available, we propose a consensus control protocol based on relative output feedback, which simplifies the consensus problem. At the same time, we consider the nonlinear and switching topologies. Secondly, because the control protocol is a nonlinear matrix inequality, which cannot be solved directly, an iterative algorithm is utilized to solve it. This improves the application range of relative output feedback greatly. Finally, the effectiveness of the obtained results is analyzed by simulation.