This article focuses on the constrained optimization problem for second-order multiagent systems that experience heterogeneous communication delays. Specifically, the involved agents work together to find the optimal solution of a global payoff function, which is summed by multiple strongly convex local payoff functions, with each function being exclusively owned by an individual agent. However, the feasible solutions must satisfy a coupled equality constraint, formulated by individual parameters assigned to each agent. Initially, a basic anti-delay distributed protocol is developed, which leverages a scattering transformation to enhance the generation of received information. Using the Lyapunov framework, we demonstrate that the agents coordinated by this anti-delay distributed protocol can effectively reach a consensus on the expected optimal solution, despite the presence of communication delays. In addition, we present two results that extend the basic anti-delay distributed protocol. First, we consider the scenario of lacking velocity and develop a velocity-free anti-delay distributed protocol to achieve the concerned constrained optimization objective. Next, we augment the system order and develop an anti-delay distributed optimization protocol for integrator chain multiagent systems. Finally, we confirm the anti-delay performance of the developed distributed protocols through simulations.

The optimization problem of second-order discrete-time multiagent systems with set constraints is studied in this article. In particular, the involved agents cooperatively search an optimal solution of a global objective function summed by multiple local ones within the intersection of multiple constrained sets. We also consider that each pair of local objective function and constrained set is exclusively accessible to the respective agent, and each agent just interacts with its local neighbors. By borrowing from the consensus idea, a projection-based distributed optimization algorithm resorting to an auxiliary dynamics is first proposed without interacting the gradient information of local objective functions. Next, by considering the local objective functions being strongly convex, selection criteria of step size and algorithm parameter are built such that the unique solution to the concerned optimization problem is obtained. Moreover, by fixing a unit step size, it is also shown that the optimization result can be relaxed to the case with just convex local objective functions given a properly chosen algorithm parameter. Finally, practical and numerical examples are taken to verify the proposed optimization results.

The time-varying economic dispatch over a network is considered where both the cost function and the equality constraint are time-varying. A distributed algorithm is first designed combing the prediction-correction framework and the consensus + innovations approach. In the prediction steps, the sensitivity analysis method is introduced to calculate the shift between the estimated and the exact optimization solution of the correction steps. Afterwards, the overall optimal errors in two steps are calculated by the sub-optimal analysis method. The convergence analysis shows that the dispatch errors are bounded and the convergence process is Q-linear. A dynamic prediction-correction algorithm is then presented to improve the accuracy at every time instant. Finally, numerical examples using the IEEE 118-bus system are presented to illustrate the validity of the algorithms.

In this article, a class of distributed nonlinear placement problems is considered for a multicluster system. The task is to determine the positions of the agents in each cluster subject to the constraints on agent positions and the network topology. In particular, the agents in each cluster are placed to form the desired shape and minimize the sum of squares of the Euclidean lengths of the links amongst the center of each cluster and its corresponding cluster members. The problem is converted into a time-varying noncooperative game and then a distributed Nash equilibrium-seeking algorithm is designed based on a distributed observer method. A new iterative approach is employed to prove the convergence with the aid of the Lyapunov stability theorem. The effectiveness of the distributed algorithm is validated by numerical examples.

In this article, the distributed nonlinear placement problem for a class of multicluster Euler–Lagrange systems is considered. The problem is first converted into a time-varying noncooperative game. A distributed Nash equilibrium seeking algorithm composed of an auxiliary double-integrator system and a coordinated-tracking observer is designed to solve the problem. The convergence results are established by an iterative approach and the small gain theorem. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated via simulations.

In this article, a class of distributed quadratic games is considered over an undirected graph. The issue on the communication topology restriction is introduced and the players’ dynamics are with nonlinear dynamics and unknown time-varying perturbation. A distributed Nash equilibrium seeking algorithm is proposed based on a high-gain observer method, and the convergence is analyzed by the Lyapunov stability theory. It is shown that each player estimates the rival players’ states, and the errors between the players’ states and the Nash equilibrium are ultimately bounded by a small bound. Moreover, the presented algorithm is free of chattering phenomena because it is designed using the hyperbolic tangent function instead of the signum function to dominant the perturbation. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is validated via a simulation of the oligopoly game in which five firms produce the same products in a duopoly market structure.