Collision avoidance control for discrete multi-agent systems with communication outages

In this paper, we study the collision avoidance and flocking problems of multi-agent systems with communication outages in the discrete form. Communication outages will destroy the connected state of the system, resulting in collision or failure to flock, but the related research is still not perfect. In order to solve the corresponding problems, this paper introduces a singular communication weight with cut-off characteristics, and proposes a new control protocol. First, by using the theory of graph theory and the method of analysis, this paper proves that the system will not collide in a finite time through the idea of mathematical induction. Second, by using the analysis method, it is proved that the system can achieve asymptotic flocking when the initial state of the system satisfies certain conditions, and the upper bounds of the flocking velocity and the distance between the agents are obtained. Finally, the correctness of the conclusion is verified by numerical simulation. © 2023 South China University of Technology. All rights reserved.