A multiple-derivative and multiple-delay paradigm for decentralized controller design: Introduction using the canonical double-integrator network

We are engaged in a major effort to design decentralized controllers for modern networks, that is fundamentally based on 1) applying feedback of multiple derivatives of local observations and 2) implementing these derivative feedbacks using multiple-delay controllers. Here, we fully motivate and introduce the design paradigm in the context of a canonical sensing-network model, namely a network of saturating double integrators with general sensing topology that is subject to measurement delays. In this context, we illustrate that our design paradigm yields practical high-performance (in particular, group pole-placement) decentralized controllers that exploit the network topology while distributing the complexity and actuation requirements among the agents.