Sampled-Data Based Containment Control for a Class of Nonlinear Multiagent Systems With Dynamic Leaders and Control Saturation

This article focuses on examining the sampled-data based containment control (CC) issue for nonlinear multiagent systems (MASs) with dynamic leaders and input saturation. The proposed control protocol requires that the information is exchanged and calculated only at the sampling instants with the aim of conserving communication resources, and the protocol incorporates the control saturation as well. The CC is analyzed by means of the algebraic graph theory, M-matrix theory and Halanay-type inequal- ity, etc. Some criteria are derived to ensure the MAS can realize the CC under the control protocol, and in the meantime, a CC region is also given ensuring that all the followers with their initial stacked states in it will converge ultimately to the convex hull formed by the leaders. Furthermore, the design of the control gain can be carried out by searching for feasible solutions to a group of matrix inequalities. Finally, a numerical illustration is provided to substantiate the efficacy of the theoretical findings.