Partial-state synchronization of linear heterogeneous multi-agent systems

This article is devoted to the synchronization of heterogeneous, and hence non-identical, linear systems. The proposed solution results in a fully distributed control law solely relying on local measurements. In order to achieve this, it is shown that the problem can be decomposed into three sub-problems: First, the synchronization of identical exosystems provides a feasible trajectory which turns out to be the synchronization manifold. Second, a decentralized observer is proposed for estimating the absolute state based on the local measurements performed. Third, this estimate is used to derive a tracking control law, based on the full information output regulation problem, to follow the generated exosystem reference. The concept is illustrated by an example.