Optimal performance of a modified leader-follower cooperative team with partial availability of the leader command and agents actuator faults

The objective of this work is performance analysis for a cooperative team of agents in presence of team members faults. The team goal is to accomplish a cohesive motion in a modified leader-follower architecture using a semi-decentralized optimal control introduced previously by the authors. This controller is designed based on minimization of individual cost functions over a finite horizon using local information. The desired output (command) is assumed to be available to only the leader while the followers should follow the leader using information exchanges existing among themselves and the leader(s) through a predefined topology. It is shown that in case of faults in one or more agents, either in the leader or followers, the team maintains its stability. Also, the final steady state value to which the team would converge in these cases are obtained. It is shown that the modified structure used for the team enables the leader to adapt itself to followers faults. For instance, in case of a follower speed reduction due to an actuator fault, the leader would decrease its speed to adapt itself to the failed agent. Finally, simulation results are provided to demonstrate achievement of the prespecified team fault tolerant cooperative requirements.