Autonomous Synchronization of Heterogeneous Multi-Agent Systems

This article formulates a new type of synchronization problem for heterogeneous multiagent systems (MASs), called autonomous synchronization. In this problem, neither the synchronized agent dynamics nor the synchronized states are specified a priori, instead, they are autonomously determined by the inherent properties and the initial states of agents, thus providing an MAS with more degrees of adaptability and higher synchronization efficiency. To achieve autonomous synchronization, a novel dynamics update law and a synchronizing control law are proposed and the sufficient solvability conditions are explicitly revealed. The results are supported by rigorous theoretical analysis and numerical simulation, in both continuous-time and discrete-time settings.