In this article, event-triggered (ET) observers and ET-distributed${\boldsymbol {\mathcal {H}}_{\boldsymbol \infty }}$controllers are investigated for physically interconnected nonholonomic mechanical agents in harsh conditions, such as skidding, slipping, and dead-zone disturbances. The agents’ models are presented by strict-feedback nonlinear large-scale systems, but unlike the existing studies, unknown dynamics with feedback outputs are considered, and assumptions of polynomial-type nonlinearities for physical interconnection functions are relaxed. Initially, the observer of unmeasurable states via the outputs is designed. Then, ET augmented controllers are established to transform the physically interconnected system into isolated subsystems connected by a communication network. By utilizing the local information of each agent and adaptive dynamic programming (ADP), ET-distributed${\boldsymbol {\mathcal {H}}_{\boldsymbol \infty }}$optimal control laws and disturbance rejection laws are derived. The parameters of the ET observers and controllers are synchronously updated online by event-triggering mechanisms; thus, it reduces computational complexity and communication. It is guaranteed that the states in the closed dynamics are$L_{2}$-gain bounded and the Zeno behavior is avoided. Additionally, the convergence of cost functions to the near-optimal values is accelerated by a concurrent learning technique, avoiding dependence on the online examination of the persistence of excitation conditions. Finally, the control performance of a nonholonomic multirobot system in a comparative simulation study shows that the proposed observers and controllers are effective.

Sensitivity Amplification Control (SAC) algorithm was first proposed in the augmentation applications of Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton (BLEEX). The SAC algorithm is widely used in human augmentation applications since it just need the information from the exoskeleton robot, so that the complexity of exoskeleton system can be reduced greatly. However, the SAC algorithm has two main drawbacks: 1) requiring accurate dynamic models of the exoskeleton, 2) can not manage the variation of interaction dynamics from different walking speed. This paper presents a novel developed learning control strategy based on SAC algorithm. In the proposed Adaptive Sensitivity Amplification Control (ASAC) strategy, the reinforcement learning method is utilized to learn the sensitivity factors online for the sake of handling the variation of interaction dynamics. We demonstrate the control efficiency of ASAC on an one degree-of-freedom (DOF) platform with swing movements first, and then extend it into a HUman-powered Augmentation Lower EXoskeleton (HUALEX). The experimental results show that the proposed ASAC strategy can handle the changing interaction dynamics with less interaction force between the pilot and the exoskeleton as compared with traditional SAC algorithm.