Finite-Time Distributed Average Tracking for a Class of Nonlinear Multi-Agent Systems With External Disturbances

In this article, a finite-time distributed average tracking (DAT) problem is considered for unity relative degree nonlinear multi-agent systems (MASs) subject to external disturbances. The objective of this article is to design a distributed controller such that the output of each agent converges to the desired trajectory (the average of multiple nonlinear signals) within a finite time. First, we introduce a steady-state generator, which can reproduce the desired trajectory. Based on the steady-state generator, we design a distributed observer to estimate the desired trajectory, which is robustness to initialization errors. Then, an observer-based output-feedback controller is proposed for each agent such that the output of each agent can converge to its own generated signal within a finite time. Finally, it is shown that the output of each agent can converge to the desired trajectory within a finite time using the proposed control strategy, and hence the finite-time DAT problem is solved. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.