A consensus algorithm for networks with process noise and quantization error

In this paper we address the problem of quantized consensus where process noise or external inputs corrupt the state of each agent at each iteration. We propose a quantized consensus algorithm with progressive quantization, where the quantization interval changes in length at each iteration by a pre-specified value. We derive conditions on the design parameters of the algorithm to guarantee ultimate boundedness of the deviation from the average of each agent. Moreover, we determine explicitly the bounds of the consensus error under the assumption that the process disturbances are ultimately bounded within known bounds. A numerical example of cooperative path-following of a network of single integrators illustrates the performance of the proposed algorithm. © 2015 IEEE.