Observer-based adaptive time-varying group formation tracking control for nonlinear second-order multi-agent systems

In this article, observer-based adaptive control of time-varying group formation tracking (TVGFT) problem for nonlinear second-order multi-agent systems is discussed. Follower agents are divided into multiple groups and all agents communicate with each other to exist the spanning tree. The followers of different groups follow the corresponding leaders to accomplish different tasks. The design of the control protocol is based on the observation of agents and the communication between the agents. Sufficient conditions for achieving TVGFT are obtained by solving Riccati inequality. Finally, it is demonstrated from simulation experiments that the TVGFT can be achieved by utilizing the designed control protocol.