Distributed Observer‐Based Faster Fixed‐Time Sliding‐Mode Consensus Tracking Control for High‐Order Multiagent Systems

ABSTRACT To solve the fast fixed‐time consensus tracking problem for high‐order multiagent systems, this paper proposes a control method to enable efficient consensus among multiple agents. A novel distributed high‐order fixed‐time observer is designed for each follower to accurately estimate the state of a leader. A fixed‐time stable system with a faster convergence rate than existing systems is developed. Based on this system and the observer, a novel fast fixed‐time consensus tracking control strategy is proposed. The suggested control protocol guarantees that (1) the estimated leader's state is accurately tracked by the followers and the convergence rate of the high‐order system errors is expedited; (2) the system tracking errors can be maintained near the origin in a fixed time, and importantly, the upper bound on the convergence time of the system tracking errors is estimated regardless of the initial state. Simulation results indicate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed approach.