  In this paper, we study parameter-independent stability in qualitatively
heterogeneous passive networked systems containing damped and undamped nodes.
Given the graph topology and a set of damped nodes, we ask if output consensus
is achieved for all system parameter values. For given parameter values, an
eigenspace analysis is used to determine output consensus. The extension to
parameter-independent stability is characterized by a coloring problem, named
the richly balanced coloring (RBC) problem. The RBC problem asks if all nodes
of the graph can be colored red, blue and black in such a way that (i) every
damped node is black, (ii) every black node has blue neighbors if and only if
it has red neighbors, and (iii) not all nodes in the graph are black. Such a
colored graph is referred to as a richly balanced colored graph.
Parameter-independent stability is guaranteed if there does not exist a richly
balanced coloring. The RBC problem is shown to cover another well-known graph
coloring scheme known as zero forcing sets. That is, if the damped nodes form a
zero forcing set in the graph, then a richly balanced coloring does not exist
and thus, parameter-independent stability is guaranteed. However, the full
equivalence of zero forcing sets and parameter-independent stability holds only
true for tree graphs. For more general graphs with few fundamental cycles an
algorithm, named chord node coloring, is proposed that significantly
outperforms a brute-force search for solving the NP-complete RBC problem.
