Group consensus for multiple networked Euler-Lagrange systems with parametric uncertainties

In this paper, a group consensus problem is investigated for multiple networked agents with parametric uncertainties where all the agents are governed by the Euler-Lagrange system with uncertain parameters. In the group consensus problem, the agents asymptotically reach several different states rather than one consistent state. A novel group consensus protocol and a time-varying estimator of the uncertain parameters are proposed for each agent in order to solve the couple-group consensus problem. It is shown that the group consensus is reachable even when the system contains the uncertain parameters. Furthermore, the multi-group consensus is discussed as an extension of the couple-group consensus, and then the group consensus with switching topology is considered. Simulation results are finally provided to validate the effectiveness of the theoretical analysis.