A transformation method for consensus of general linear multi-agent systems

This paper is concerned with the consensus of general linear multi-agent systems with directed topology. A transformation method is proposed for analysis and control of consensus. The definition and properties of the transformation are first discussed. The consensus in the multi-agent is investigated through the stability of the transformed system, and the relation between the two systems is established. This approach provides a natural way to derive necessary and sufficient conditions for consensus, and further it can be used to analyse the consensus types. Moreover, compared to conventional methods, by this transformation a more general control design approach for each general agent is presented this paper. Numerical examples with four cases are given to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.