Finite-time consensus for second-order multi-agent systems with saturated control protocols

This study investigates the distributed finite-time consensus problem of networked agents with second-order integrators. First of all, to achieve finite-time consensus, a saturated protocol is proposed based on both relative position and relative velocity measurements. In light of the tools from homogeneous theory, it is theoretically shown that the proposed protocol will guarantee finite-time consensus under bounded control inputs. Then, based only on the relative position measurements, an observer-type protocol is developed and employed for achieving finite-time consensus. Theoretical studies indicate that under the proposed algorithms, the states of the agents will achieve finite-time consensus without velocity measurements. Finally, the effectiveness of the theoretical results is illustrated by numerical simulations.