A Multiplex Approach Against Disturbance Propagation in Nonlinear Networks With Delays

Abstract

We consider both leaderless and leader-follower, possibly nonlinear, networks affected by time-varying communication delays. For such systems, we give a set of sufficient conditions that guarantee the convergence of the network towards some desired behaviour while simultaneously ensuring the rejection of polynomial disturbances and the non-amplification of other classes of disturbances across the network. To fulfill these desired properties, and prove our main results, we propose the use of a control protocol that implements a multiplex architecture. The use of our results for control protocol design is then illustrated in the context of formation control. The protocols are validated both in-silico and via an experimental set-up with real robots. All experiments confirm the effectiveness of our approach.