Distributed Coordination of a Multi-Agent System With Intermittent Communication: A Switched Systems Approach

In this paper, a novel switched systems approach is taken to enable the distributed coordination of a multi-agent system with intermittent communication. A mobile information service provider switches between various (follower) agents in the network to provide them with state feedback when they are within close proximity. The follower agents do not have navigational sensors but are still proven to converge to a desired goal through open-loop control with intermittent error correction by the leader. A switched systems stability analysis is performed to determine the maximum dwell-time the mobile information service provider can intermittently communicate information to the agents to ensure convergence to the desired goal. Simulation results are included to demonstrate the development.