Nondisruptive Consensus in Discrete-Time Open Multiagent Systems With Double Integrator Dynamics

This article focuses on open multiagent systems (OMAS), where agents can dynamically join and leave the network. The primary objective is to achieve a property termed nondisruptive consensus (NDC), which ensures that the state evolution of existing agents remains unaffected by newly joined agents. To address this, we introduce the notions of joint robustness and limited openness, which are shown to be critical for maintaining system stability under dynamic agent participation. Leveraging these concepts, we propose an estimation-based mean subsequence reduced algorithm for OMAS with double-integrator dynamics, which effectively filters out disruptive agents. Through rigorous mathematical analysis, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions for NDC. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a time synchronization case study in a wireless sensor network, demonstrating its practical advantages and superior performance compared to existing methods.