Graph-theoretic characterisations of structural controllability for multi-agent system with switching topology

Abstract

This article considers the controllability problem for multi-agent systems. In particular, the structural controllability of multi-agent systems under switching topologies is investigated. The structural controllability of multi-agent systems is a generalisation of the traditional controllability concept for dynamical systems, and purely based on the communication topologies among agents. The main contributions of this article are graph-theoretic characterisations of the structural controllability for multi-agent systems. It turns out that the multi-agent system with switching topology is structurally controllable if and only if the union graph script G sign of the underlying communication topologies is connected (single leader) or leader-follower connected (multi-leader). Finally, this article concludes with several illustrative examples and discussions of the results and future work. © 2013 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.