Adaptive Dual-Layer Event-Triggered Framework for Unknown Nonlinear Cooperative Systems With Application to Quadrotors

Achieving resource-efficient robust tracking is critical for cooperative systems subject to external disturbances. This article proposes a novel adaptive dual-layer event-triggered (ADET) framework for solving the distributed time-varying cooperative tracking problem of a class of unknown nonlinear multiagent systems over directed communication networks. Two distinct triggering sequences with independent event-triggered conditions are proposed to determine the appropriate instants for communication and control updates. Moreover, by properly designing the sliding surface, we manage to decouple the communication and the control triggering sequences, which enables us to incorporate adaptive control strategies into event-triggered schemes for both communication and control to deal with external unknown disturbances. By employing Lyapunov’s theory, sufficient conditions for guaranteeing the feasibility of the ADET algorithm are rigorously derived, while excluding Zeno behavior. The efficiency and advantage of the ADET algorithm are fully illustrated by both simulation and experimental results.