Allowable Communication Delay Bound for Stable Parallel Operation of Multiple Actuators

초록

This paper studies the effect of a uniform constant communication delay on the parallel operation of identical linear actuators that cooperatively drive a common linear plant under a consensus-based distributed output feedback control law. The objective of the parallel operation is to achieve accurate plant output regulation and actuator output consensus, even in the presence of a uniform constant communication delay. We investigate the system performance under two distinct coupling scenarios: symmetrically and asymmetrically delayed coupling. The primary contribution of this work is the rigorous analytical derivation of the maximum admissible uniform delay required to ensure actuator output consensus for both coupling scenarios. Based on this explicit characterization, our analysis further reveals an intrinsic trade-off between the consensus gain and the allowable delay margin. Specifically, while increasing the consensus gain improves convergence speed, it simultaneously reduces delay tolerance. Simulation results validate the theoretical findings for both symmetric and asymmetric cases, highlighting the importance of delay-aware controller design for distributed actuator systems.

키워드