Predefined-Time Tracking Control for Second-Order Leader-Following Multi-Agent Systems via Prescribed-Time Observers and Sliding Mode Control Strategy

Predefined-time tracking problem for second-order nonlinear Multi-Agent Systems (MASs) under undirected graph is investigated in this paper. Firstly, by designing a group of observers, each follower can obtain the position and velocity tracking errors between it and the leader within any specified time. Secondly, an observer-based sliding surface is designed, so that the system trajectories will reach the sliding manifold within another specified time. Finally, by combining the proposed observer and sliding surface, we propose a distributed controller which can guarantee the predefined-time leader-following consensus. In order to verify the proposed solution, a simulation is executed and followed by some analysis of its results.