Fixed-time event-triggered control strategy for multi-group multi-agent average consensus

This paper investigates distributed multi-group average consensus in a leader–follower framework using a robust fixed-time event-triggered control (FxTETC) approach. Unlike conventional consensus problems, agents are partitioned into multiple groups, achieving intra-group synchronization while tracking distinct inter-group trajectories. A complex number-based communication topology is introduced to facilitate intra-group coordination while preserving inter-group formation differences. To achieve fixed-time consensus under model uncertainties and external disturbances, fully distributed event-triggered sliding mode controllers (SMC) are designed. Distributed sliding manifolds establish consensus tracking, and a fixed-time event-triggering mechanism reduces unnecessary communications. The proposed distributed fixed-time control (FxTC) law requires no global network information, ensuring scalability and robustness. It guarantees convergence of all agent states to their group average consensus within a predetermined fixed time and provides a strictly positive lower bound on inter-event intervals to eliminate Zeno behavior. Numerical simulations validate the efficiency of the approach in achieving both intra-group synchronization and inter-group trajectory tracking over directed network topologies.