1,721,188 research outputs found

    An optimal distributed PID-like control for the output containment and leader-following of heterogeneous high-order multi-agent systems

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    This paper addresses the leader-tracking and the containment control problems for heterogeneous high-order Multi-Agent Systems (MASs) sharing information through a directed communication topology. To solve both the control problems, a fully-distributed Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control strategy is proposed, whose stability is analytically proven by exploiting the regulator equations and the Static Output Feedback (SOF) procedure adapted to the MASs framework. The application of SOF allows recasting the PID control design problem into a state-feedback control design one and, hence, finding the proper values of the proportional, integral and derivative actions via classical state-feedback approaches, such as the Linear-Quadratic-Regulator (LQR) strategy. Numerical simulations confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach in guaranteeing that each follower tracks the leader behavior in the case of leader-tracking and that each follower converges to the convex hull spanned by the multiple leaders in the case of containment control

    Exponential bipartite tracking consensus in cooperative-antagonistic nonlinear Multi-Agent Systems with multiple communication time-varying delays

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    This article deals with the bipartite tracking consensus problem for high-order nonlinear Multi Agent Systems (MASs) with cooperative–antagonistic agents interacting via a directed non-ideal communication network. For a more realistic interaction scenario, a different time-varying delay is associated to each communication link connecting a couple of agents, whose actual value is determined by the current wireless channel condition. In this context, we propose a novel distributed delayed bipartite tracking consensus control strategy which ensures the exponential stability of the whole networked control system. The theoretical analysis, carried out via Lyapunov theory and Halanay’s Lemma, provides the control gains tuning rule and an estimation of the maximum admissible delay upper bound. Numerical simulations corroborate the theoretical derivations

    Adaptive fault-tolerant containment control for heterogeneous uncertain nonlinear multi-agent systems under actuator faults

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    As modern control systems involve a growing number of actuators, the consequent number of faults occurrence, which may deteriorate the closed-loop system performance, is increasing. Focusing on the containment control problem of generic nonlinear high-order heterogeneous uncertain Multi-Agent Systems, this study proposes a novel distributed adaptive fault-tolerant Proportional–Integral–Derivative control protocol to improve the reliability and the resilience of the whole networked systems against actuator failures. The Lyapunov theory, combined with the Barbalat lemma, provides the design of suitable adaptive mechanisms that adjust the PID control actions to ensure the asymptotic convergence of the closed-loop containment errors for the overall network, hence implying the convergence of each agent state toward the convex region shaped by the multiple leaders, despite the occurrence of actuators faults. The fulfillment of the fault-tolerant containment objective is ensured by requiring a lower computational burden with respect to alternative solutions, hence resulting in more attractive for wider practical engineering applications. Numerical simulation results, also including a comparison analysis with a state-of-the-art controller, corroborate the efficiency and the advantages of the proposed distributed PID controller

    Leader tracking control for heterogeneous uncertain nonlinear multi-agent systems via a distributed robust adaptive PID strategy

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    This paper addresses the leader tracking control problem for heterogeneous uncertain nonlinear multi-agent systems sharing information via a communication network, modeled as a directed graph. To solve the problem, we propose a novel distributed PID-like control strategy which, enhanced with a Lyapunov-based adaption mechanism for the control parameters, is able to counteract the uncertainties acting on the agents dynamics. The stability analysis analytically proves the effectiveness of the proposed PID protocol in ensuring the leader-tracking as well as the boundedness of the adaptive control gains. Numerical simulations, involving both the synchronization control problem for nonlinear harmonic oscillators and the practical engineering problem of the cooperative driving for autonomous connected vehicles, confirm the theoretical derivation and disclose the capability of the proposed strategy in achieving the control objective

    Distributed model reference adaptive containment control of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with unknown uncertainties and directed topologies

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    In this paper, the containment control problem of heterogeneous uncertain high-order linear Multi-Agent Systems (MASs) is addressed and solved via a novel fully-Distributed Model Reference Adaptive Control (DMRAC) approach, where each follower computes its adaptive control action on the basis of local measurements, information shared with neighbors (within the communication range) and the matching errors w.r.t. its own reference model, without requiring any previous knowledge of the global directed communication topology structure. The approach inherits the robustness of the direct model reference adaptive control (MRAC) scheme and allows all agents converging towards the convex hull spanned by leaders while fulfilling at the same time local additional performance requirements at single-agent level, such as prescribed settling time, overshoot, etc. The asymptotic stability of the whole closed-loop network is analytically derived by exploiting the Lyapunov theory and the Barbalat lemma, hence proving that each follower converges to the convex hull spanned by the leaders, as well as the boundedness of the adaptive gains. Extensive numerical analysis for heterogeneous MAS composed of stable, unstable and oscillating agent dynamics are presented to validate the theoretical framework and to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

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    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods
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