Sampled-data scaled group consensus for second-order multi-agent systems with switching topologies and random link failures

This article studies the sampled-data scaled group consensus problem for second-order multi-agent systems with switching topologies and random link failures. It is assumed that each agent only interacts with its neighbors at discrete sampling instants rather than the complete continuous process. It is further assumed that the phenomenon of random link failures on the communication links is characterized by a Bernoulli stochastic variable. By supposing that each agent has a unique scale, a distributed control protocol that uses the sampled position information of the neighbors is designed. With the assistance of hybrid tools including graph theory and matrix theory, a sufficient condition based on the structures of topologies, the time-varying sampling periods, and the gain parameter, is established to ensure the asymptotic convergence of the agents under the action of sampled distributed protocol. Finally, some simulation instances are provided to verify our theoretical finding.