Cooperative control based on distributed estimation of network connectivity

This paper addresses distributed estimation and control problems for directed network, whose connectivity can be captured by the first left eigenvector associated with the dominant eigenvalue of the communication matrix. In particular, distributive estimation scheme is designed such that the first left eigenvector as well as the expected consensus vector are estimated online employing the same communication network among the systems. Based on the estimation results, distributed cooperative controls with adaptive gains are synthesized to improve convergence of the overall system by making the time derivative of the cooperative control Lyapunov function more negative over time, such that the convergence to the expected consensus value can be enhanced. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design.