Continuous finite‐time output consensus tracking of high‐order agents with matched and unmatched disturbances

Finite‐time output consensus tracking problem of n ‐order multi‐agent systems (MAS) with matched and unmatched disturbances is investigated in this study. First, a distributed protocol is given for the nominal MAS to achieve finite‐time consensus tracking. Second, the unmatched disturbances in every follower are converted to the matched ones through a state transformation, and a finite‐time disturbance observer is utilised to estimate its disturbances and their derivatives up to the ( n − l)‐order (1 ≤ l ≤ n ) subject to the bounded ( n − l + 1)‐order derivatives. Finally, the combined observer‐based protocol achieves the finite‐time output consensus tracking in spite of all the disturbances. Finally, simulation results validate the scheme.