Consensus of networked multi-agent systems via the networked predictive control and relative outputs

This paper investigates the consensus problem of discrete-time networked multi-agent systems (DNMASs) with a directed topology and communication delay, where exact state and output of each agent are not measured, and yet output differences between agent and its neighboring ones (relative outputs for short) are available. Based on the networked predictive control scheme and relative output data, a novel protocol is proposed to overcome the effect of delay on the consensus actively. Moreover, for the DNMASs with a fixed topology and constant communication delay, delay-independent necessary and/or sufficient conditions of achieving consensus are obtained, which reveal that the essence of dominating the consensus is agents' dynamics and communication topology. Simulation results further demonstrate the effectiveness of theoretical results.