Event-Triggered Observers and Distributed H∞ Control of Physically Interconnected Nonholonomic Mechanical Agents in Harsh Conditions

In this article, event-triggered (ET) observers and ET-distributed <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\boldsymbol {\mathcal {H}}_{\boldsymbol \infty }}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> controllers are investigated for physically interconnected nonholonomic mechanical agents in harsh conditions, such as skidding, slipping, and dead-zone disturbances. The agents’ models are presented by strict-feedback nonlinear large-scale systems, but unlike the existing studies, unknown dynamics with feedback outputs are considered, and assumptions of polynomial-type nonlinearities for physical interconnection functions are relaxed. Initially, the observer of unmeasurable states via the outputs is designed. Then, ET augmented controllers are established to transform the physically interconnected system into isolated subsystems connected by a communication network. By utilizing the local information of each agent and adaptive dynamic programming (ADP), ET-distributed <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\boldsymbol {\mathcal {H}}_{\boldsymbol \infty }}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> optimal control laws and disturbance rejection laws are derived. The parameters of the ET observers and controllers are synchronously updated online by event-triggering mechanisms; thus, it reduces computational complexity and communication. It is guaranteed that the states in the closed dynamics are <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$L_{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-gain bounded and the Zeno behavior is avoided. Additionally, the convergence of cost functions to the near-optimal values is accelerated by a concurrent learning technique, avoiding dependence on the online examination of the persistence of excitation conditions. Finally, the control performance of a nonholonomic multirobot system in a comparative simulation study shows that the proposed observers and controllers are effective.