Novel MPC‐Based Fault Tolerant Tracking Control Against Sensor Faults

The problem of active fault‐tolerant tracking control with control input and system output constraints is studied for a class of discrete‐time systems subject to sensor faults. A time‐varying fault‐tolerant observer is first developed to estimate the real system state from the faulty sensor output and control input signals. Then by using the estimated state at each time step, a model predictive control (MPC)‐based fault‐tolerant tracking control scheme is presented to guarantee the desired tracking performance and the given input and output constraints on the faulty system. In comparison with many existing fault‐tolerant MPC methods, its main contribution is that the proposed state estimator is designed by the simple and online numerical computation to tolerate the possible sensor faults, so that the regular MPC algorithm without fault information can be adopted for the online calculation of fault‐tolerant control signal. The potential recursive infeasibility and computational complexity due to the faults are avoided in the scheme. Additionally, the closed‐loop stability of the post‐fault system is discussed. Simulative results of an electric throttle control system verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Sensor‐fault tolerance using robust MPC with set‐based state estimation and active fault isolation

In this paper, a sensor fault‐tolerant control scheme using robust model predictive control (MPC) and set‐theoretic fault detection and isolation (FDI) is proposed. The robust MPC controller is used to control the plant in the presence of process disturbances and measurement noises while implementing a mechanism to tolerate faults. In the proposed scheme, fault detection (FD) is passive based on interval observers, while fault isolation (FI) is active by means of MPC and set manipulations. The basic idea is that for a healthy or faulty mode, one can construct the corresponding output set. The size and location of the output set can be manipulated by adjusting the size and center of the set of plant inputs. Furthermore, the inputs can be adjusted on‐line by changing the input‐constraint set of the MPC controller. In this way, one can design an input set able to separate all output sets corresponding to all considered healthy and faulty modes from each other. Consequently, all the considered healthy and faulty modes can be isolated after detecting a mode changing while preserving feasibility of MPC controller. As a case study, an electric circuit is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sensor fault‐tolerant control of a magnetic levitation system

In this paper, a fault‐tolerant switching control strategy is implemented on a magnetic levitation (MAGLEV) system. Two sensors are embedded in the MAGLEV system and their measurements used by two independent estimators. Each sensors–estimator combination, together with a feedback controller can levitate and stabilize a 1‐in steel ball at a desired position in the air. The paper focuses on the design and testing of a switching scheme which, at each instant of time, selects the sensors–estimator combination that provides the best closed loop performance based on a chosen criterion. Theoretical results on the system linearization around an operating point ensure local closed‐loop stability and good performance under the occurrence of an abrupt fault in one of the plant sensors. Experimental results are provided which confirm the fault‐tolerant capabilities of the strategy. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental Investigation of Passive Fault Tolerant Control for Induction Machine Using Sliding Mode Approach

This paper presents a passive fault tolerant control approach dedicated to stator inter‐turn short‐circuit fault of an induction machine. This control is based on sliding mode strategy and is implemented for validation on real‐time data acquisition and control platform. The proposed work highlights the integral sliding mode controller benefits during healthy and faulty operations. It can make the induction machine outputs to track their desired reference signals in finite‐time and allows to obtain a better dynamic response performances even in presence of fault. Moreover to avoid the use of a flux sensor, a second order sliding mode observer is used to estimate the rotor flux. Since the used observer converges in finite time, the closed‐loop stability of the proposed system (controller+observer) is proved using the Lyapunov stability theorem. Experimental results are conducted for squirrel cage induction machine to highlight the efficiency and applicability of the proposed fault tolerant control.     

Robust multiactuator fault‐tolerant MPC design for constrained systems

In this paper, we present a robust actuator fault‐tolerant control strategy for constrained linear systems in the presence of bounded state and input disturbances. The scheme is based on a bank of state estimators that match different fault situations that can occur in the system. A fault detection and isolation unit verifies that suitable residual variables lie inside pre‐computed sets and selects the estimate that matches the current plant behaviour. A bank of robustly stabilizing tube‐based model predictive control laws is designed, each associated to a fault scenario, and the appropriate controller is selected among them by using the information provided by the fault detection and isolation module. By means of ‘tubes’ of trajectories, we ensure robust closed‐loop exponential stability of the constrained system and good performance in the fault‐free case and under the occurrence of abrupt actuator faults, including actuator outage and loss of effectiveness by an unknown amount. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A stability guaranteed active fault‐tolerant control system against actuator failures

In this paper, a new strategy for fault‐tolerant control system design has been proposed using multiple controllers. The design of such controllers is shown to be unique in the sense that the resulting control system neither suffers from the problem of conservativeness of conventional passive fault‐tolerant control nor from the risk of instability associated with active fault‐tolerant control in case that an incorrect fault detection and isolation decision is made. In other words, the stability of the closed‐loop system is always ensured regardless of the decision made by the fault detection and isolation scheme. A correct decision will further lead to optimal performance of the closed‐loop system. This paper deals with the conflicting requirements among stability, redundancy, and graceful degradation in performance for fault‐tolerant control systems by using robust control techniques. A detailed design procedure has been presented with consideration of parameter uncertainties. Both total and partial actuator failures have been considered. This new control strategy has been demonstrated by controlling a McDonnell F‐4C airplane in the lateral‐direction through simulation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A ROBUST SENSOR FAULT TOLERANT CONTROL SCHEME IMPLEMENTED ON A CRANE

This paper presents a sensor fault tolerant control scheme applied to a crane system. Sensor faults affect the system's performance in the closed‐loop when the faulty sensor readings are used to generate the control input. In this paper, the measured outputs are separated into potentially faulty and nonfaulty components, and the latter are injected into a linear observer to reconstruct the faults. The reconstruction is subtracted from the faulty sensors to form a compensated ‘virtual sensor’ and this signal is then used to generate the control input. A design method for the observer is also presented in which the reconstruction signal is made as insensitive as possible to any uncertainties or nonlinearities present in the system. Good results have been obtained; with reduced performance degradation during faulty conditions.     

Fault tolerant control using virtual actuator for continuous‐time Lipschitz nonlinear systems

In this brief, we extend the existing results on fault tolerant control via virtual actuator approach to a class of systems with Lipschitz nonlinearities to maintain the closed‐loop stability after actuator faults. This generalization is established by relying on the input‐to‐state stability properties of cascaded systems. The virtual actuator block, placed between faulty plant and nominal controller, generates useful input signals for faulty plant by using output signals of the nominal controller to guarantee the closed‐loop stability in the presence of actuator faults. This design problem is reduced to a matrix inequality that can be turned to an LMI by fixing a variable to a constant value and solving the resulting LMI feasibility problem. The proposed fault tolerant control method is successfully evaluated using a nonlinear system. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multisensor fusion fault tolerant control

In this paper, a multisensor fusion fault tolerant control system with fault detection and identification via set separation is presented. The fault detection and identification unit verifies that for each sensor–estimator combination, the estimation tracking errors lie inside pre-computed sets and discards faulty sensors when their associated estimation tracking errors leave the sets. An active fault tolerant controller is obtained, where the remaining healthy estimates are combined using a technique based on the optimal fusion criterion in the linear minimum-variance sense. The fused estimates are then used to implement a state feedback tracking controller. We ensure closed-loop stability and performance under the occurrence of abrupt sensor faults. Experimental validation, illustrating the multisensor fusion fault tolerant control strategy is included.     

Aero‐Engine DCS Fault‐Tolerant Control with Markov Time Delay Based On Augmented Adaptive Sliding Mode Observer

With a focus on aero‐engine distributed control systems (DCSs) with Markov time delay, unknown input disturbance, and sensor and actuator simultaneous faults, a combined fault tolerant algorithm based on the adaptive sliding mode observer is studied. First, an uncertain augmented model of distributed control system is established under the condition of simultaneous sensor and actuator faults, which also considers the influence of the output disturbances. Second, an augmented adaptive sliding mode observer is designed and the linear matrix inequality (LMI) form stability condition of the combined closed‐loop system is deduced. Third, a robust sliding mode fault tolerant controller is designed based on fault estimation of the sliding mode observer, where the theory of predictive control is adopted to suppress the influence of random time delay on system stability. Simulation results indicate that the proposed sliding mode fault tolerant controller can be very effective despite the existence of faults and output disturbances, and is suitable for the simultaneous sensor and actuator faults condition.     

Global decentralized sampled‐data output feedback stabilization for a class of large‐scale nonlinear systems with sensor and actuator failures

In this paper, we investigate global decentralized sampled‐data output feedback stabilization problem for a class of large‐scale nonlinear systems with time‐varying sensor and actuator failures. The considered systems include unknown time‐varying control coefficients and inherently nonlinear terms. Firstly, coordinate transformations are introduced with suitable scaling gains. Next, a reduced‐order observer is designed to estimate unmeasured states. Then, a decentralized sampled‐data fault‐tolerant control scheme is developed with an allowable sampling period. By constructing an appropriate Lyapunov function, it can be shown that all states of the resulting closed‐loop system are globally uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, the validity of the proposed control approach is verified by using two examples.     

Adaptive logic‐based switching fault‐tolerant controller design for nonlinear uncertain systems

This paper deals with the problem of fault‐tolerant control (FTC) for a class of nonlinear uncertain systems against actuator faults using adaptive logic‐based switching control method. The uncertainties under consideration are assumed to be dominated by a bounding system which is linear in growth in the unmeasurable states but can be a continuous function of the system output, with unknown growth rates. Several types of common actuator faults, e.g., bias, loss‐of‐effectiveness, stuck and hard‐over faults are integrated by a unified fault model. By utilizing a novel adaptive logic‐based switching control scheme, the actuator faults can be detected and automatically accommodated by switching from the stuck actuator to the healthy or even partly losing‐effectiveness one with bias, in the presence of large parametric uncertainty. In particular, two switching logics for updating the gain in the output feedback controllers are designed to ensure the global stability of the nominal (fault‐free) system and the boundedness of all closed‐loop signals of the faulty system, respectively. Two simulation examples of an aircraft wing model and a single‐link flexible‐joint robot are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed FTC controller. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Robust adaptive fault‐tolerant tracking control for uncertain linear systems with time‐varying performance bounds

In this paper, the problem of robust adaptive fault‐tolerant tracking control with time‐varying performance bounds is investigated for a class of linear systems subject to parameter uncertainties, external disturbances and actuator failures. In order to ensure the norm of the tracking error less than the user‐defined time‐varying performance bounds, we propose a new control strategy which is predicated on the generalized restricted potential function. Compared with the existing result, a novel method which provides two design freedoms is developed to reduce the tracking error. According to the online estimation information provided by adaptive mechanism, a fault‐tolerant tracking control method guaranteeing time‐varying performance bounds is developed for robust tracking of reference model. It is shown that the closed‐loop signals are bounded and the tracking error within an a priori given, time‐varying performance bounds. A simulation result is provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed fault‐tolerant tracking control method.     

Sensor fault tolerant control of nonlinear Takagi–Sugeno systems. Application to vehicle lateral dynamics

This paper presents a new scheme for sensor fault tolerant control for nonlinear systems based on the Takagi–Sugeno modeling. First, a structured residual generator aimed at detecting and isolating sensor faults is designed. A bank of observers controlled either by only one system output or a set of outputs is then implemented, leading to a set of state estimates. The parallel distributed compensation structure is adopted to design the fault tolerant controller. The novelty in this paper is that the estimated state used in the controller is a weighted state vector obtained from all the estimated states provided by the different observers. The weighting functions depend on the residual vector signals delivered by the residual generator. They are designed to avoid crisp switches in the control law. Indeed, the interesting feature of the proposed approach is to avoid the commonly used switching strategy. For each residual component, the greater its magnitude is, the less the weight affected to the corresponding state estimate is. Consequently, the controller only uses estimations computed on the basis of healthy measurements. The closed‐loop stability is studied with the Lyapunov theory, and the obtained conditions are expressed as a set of linear matrix inequalities. The proposed residual generation and fault tolerant controller are applied to a vehicle lateral dynamics affected by sensor faults. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Data‐based design of robust fault detection and isolation residuals via LASSO optimization and Bayesian filtering

In this paper, a data‐based approach for the design of structured residual subsets for the robust isolation of sensor faults is proposed. Linear regression models are employed to estimate faulty signals and to build a set of primary residuals. L₁‐regularized least squares estimation is used to identify model parameters and to enforce sparsity of the solutions by increasing the regularization weight. In this way, it is possible to generate a set of residuals generators with different fault sensitivity. Then, a residual selection procedure based on fault sensitivity maximization is proposed to extract a minimum size subset of structured residuals that allows for isolation of the faulty sensor. To overcome modelling uncertainty, a robust recursive Bayesian Filter has been employed to process, online, the distance of the residuals from nominal fault directions, providing a fault probability for each sensor. The proposed method has been validated by designing and testing a fault isolation scheme for six aircraft sensors using multi‐flight experimental data of a P92 Tecnam aircraft.