H _∞ consensus control for multi-agent systems with linear coupling dynamics and communication delays

This article is devoted to the consensus control problem of a network of autonomous agents with linear coupling dynamics, subject to external disturbances and communication delays, and proposes a distributed state feedback protocol. By applying H _∞ theory of linear systems, delay-independent and -dependent conditions in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) are both derived to ensure consensus of the multi-agent system with a prescribed H _∞ disturbance attenuation index, and the undetermined feedback matrix of the proposed protocol is further solved accordingly. A simulation example is included to validate the theoretical results.