Adaptive Connectivity‐Preserving Consensus Tracking of Nonlinear Strict‐Feedback Multiagent Systems With Input Hysteresis and Communication Range Constraints

ABSTRACT This paper tackles the consensus tracking issue for nonlinear strict‐feedback multi‐agent systems with unmeasurable states under constrained communication ranges. The primary challenge is maintaining connectivity between agents under limited and time‐varying communication conditions. To tackle this, a general time‐varying communication constraint model is explicitly formulated using continuous functions, and a comprehensive design framework is proposed. Building on this, a distributed dynamic connectivity‐preserving controller is designed to ensure that agents maintain connectivity throughout the time domain under time‐varying communication constraints. Furthermore, a fuzzy logic system is used to approximate the unknown internal dynamics, and an adaptive fuzzy observer is introduced to estimate the unmeasurable states. The uncertainty in system parameters induced by input hysteresis is tackled by designing a convergent adaptive law to estimate and compensate for the uncertain parameters. Stability analysis confirms that the proposed observer and controller can effectively ensure that all signals within the closed‐loop system are bounded. Finally, a simulation case is provided to validate the feasibility of the proposed control approach.