Topological Controllability of Undirected Networks of Diffusively-Coupled Agents

Abstract: This paper presents conditions for establishing topological controllability in undirected networks of diffusively coupled agents. Specifically, controllability is considered based on the signs of the edges (negative, positive or zero). Our approach differs from well-known structural controllability conditions for linear systems or consensus networks, where controllability conditions are based on edge connectivity (i.e., zero or nonzero edges). Our results first provide a process for merging controllable graphs into a larger controllable graph. Then, based on this process, we provide a graph decomposition process for evaluating the topological controllability of a given network.