Cooperative Control for Multi-Agent Systems with Deception Attack Based on an Attack Detection Mechanism

Shuhan Zhang, Kai Zhang and Zhijian Hu ()
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Shuhan Zhang: School of Mathematical Science, Bohai University, Shenyang 121013, China
Kai Zhang: School of Instrument Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 416, Harbin 150001, China
Zhijian Hu: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: This study highlights the security control challenge for multi-agent systems (MASs) with integrated attack detectors under deception attacks (DAs). We develop an adaptive backstepping security control strategy designed to simultaneously detect DAs and maintain cooperative system performance. First, a DA detection mechanism is proposed using a state observer. The analytical results reveal that observer errors grow unbounded under DAs but converge to zero in attack-free scenarios, enabling effective attack identification. Following detection, we integrate a Nussbaum function into the backstepping control framework to manage unknown time-varying output gains. Additionally, adaptive parameters, dynamically adjusted based on DA signals, are designed to compensate for actuator and sensor deviations induced by attacks. Rigorous Lyapunov-based analysis proves that the proposed controller ensures output tracking under deception attacks, the timely detection of attack signals, and the boundedness of all closed-loop signals. Numerical simulations further confirm the theoretical findings and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Keywords: adaptive cooperative control; backstepping; deception attack; attack detection mechanism; multi-agent systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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