Distributed event-triggered consensus protocols for discrete-time multiagent systems

Abstract This paper focuses on leader-following and leaderless consensus problems of discrete-time multiagent systems. A distributed observer-based consensus protocol is proposed to investigate the consensus problem for multiagent systems of general discrete-time linear dynamics. By means of the observer, the distributed control law of each agent is designed using local information to guarantee consensus, and the corresponding sufficient conditions are obtained by exploiting graph and control theory approach. A modified distributed event-triggered consensus protocol is designed to reduce communication congestion. Detailed analysis of the leaderless and the leader-following consensus is presented for both observer-based and full-information protocols. Finally, two simulation examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and capabilities of the established theories.