Semi-global leader-following output consensus of heterogeneous systems subject to actuator position and rate saturation

We study in this paper a semi-global leader-following output consensus problem for multiple heterogeneous linear systems in the presence of actuator position and rate saturation over a directed topology. For each follower, via the low gain feedback design technique and output regulation theory, both a state feedback consensus protocol and an output feedback consensus protocol are constructed. In the output feedback case, different distributed observers are designed for the informed followers and uninformed followers to estimate the state of the leader and the follower itself. We show that the semi-global leader-following output consensus of heterogeneous linear systems can be achieved by the two consensus protocols if each follower is reachable from the leader in the directed communication topology.