Observer-based time-varying group formation tracking for one-sided Lipschitz nonlinear second-order multi-agent systems

This paper discusses the observer-based time-varying group formation tracking (TVGFT) control problem for one-sided Lipschitz nonlinear second-order multi-agent systems (MASs). The followers in the MASs are divided into multiple groups, where only one follower in each group knows the leaders information, and a control protocol is designed through the interactions among the followers. Based on the one-sided Lipschitz definition and the properties of Laplacian matrices, sufficient conditions are provided to achieve the TVGFT for one-sided Lipschitz nonlinear MASs. By solving the linear matrix inequality (LMI), sufficient criteria for achieving TVGFT can be obtained. Finally, it is demonstrated from simulations that the designed control protocol can achieve TVGFT effectively.