Distributed Adaptive Event‐Triggered Control for Leader‐Following Consensus of Multi‐Agent Systems

This paper studies the leader‐following consensus problem for Lipschitz nonlinear multi‐agent systems using novel event‐triggered controllers. A distributed adaptive law is introduced for the event‐based control strategy design such that the proposed controllers are independent of system parameters and only use the relative states of neighboring agents, and hence are fully distributed. Due to the introduction of an event‐triggered control scheme, the controller of the agent is only triggered at it's own event times, and thus reduces the amount of communication between controller and actuator and lowers the frequency of controller updates in practice. Based on a quadratic Lyapunov function, the event condition which uses only neighbor information and local computation at trigger instants is established. Infinite triggers within a finite time are also verified to be impossible. The effectiveness of the theoretical results are illustrated through simulation examples.     

Interior‐Point Method to Optimize Tire Force Allocation in 4‐Wheeled Vehicles Using High‐Level Sliding Mode Control with Adaptive Gain

Nonlinear vehicle control allocation is achieved by distributing the control task to tire forces with nonlinear saturation constraints. The overall vehicle control is accomplished by developing a hierarchical scheme. First, a high‐level sliding mode control with adaptive gain is considered to obtain the body force/moment for stable vehicle motion. The proposed controller only requires online adaptation of control gains without acquiring the knowledge of upper‐bounds on system uncertainties. Then, optimal distribution of tire forces (ODF) with nonlinear saturation constraints is considered. The high‐level control objectives are mapped to individual tire forces by formulating a nonlinear optimization problem. The interior‐point (IP) method is adopted for a nonlinear programming task at each time step. Evaluation of the overall system is accomplished by simulation testing with a nine‐degrees‐of‐freedom vehicle nonlinear model. Comparison with a well‐recognized control system shows the effect of saturation constrained ODF (SCODF) on improving vehicle handling and stability.     

Cooperative control of multiple surface vessels in the presence of ocean currents and parametric model uncertainty

This paper addresses the problem of cooperative path‐following of multiple autonomous vehicles. Stated briefly, the problem consists of steering a group of vehicles along specified paths while keeping a desired spatial formation. For a given class of autonomous surface vessels, it is shown how Lyapunov‐based techniques and graph theory can be brought together to design a decentralized control structure, where the vehicle dynamics and the constraints imposed by the topology of the inter‐vehicle communication network are explicitly taken into account. To achieve path‐following for each vehicle, a nonlinear adaptive controller is designed that yields convergence of the trajectories of the closed‐loop system to the path in the presence of constant unknown ocean currents and parametric model uncertainty. The controller derived implicitly compensates for the effect of the ocean current without the need for direct measurements of its velocity. Vehicle cooperation is achieved by adjusting the speed of each vehicle along its path according to information exchanged on the positions of a subset of the other vehicles, as determined by the communication topology adopted. Global stability and convergence of the closed‐loop system are guaranteed. Illustrative examples are presented and discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A path planning and path‐following control framework for a general 2‐trailer with a car‐like tractor

Maneuvering a general 2‐trailer with a car‐like tractor in backward motion is a task that requires a significant skill to master and is unarguably one of the most complicated tasks a truck driver has to perform. This paper presents a path planning and path‐following control solution that can be used to automatically plan and execute difficult parking and obstacle avoidance maneuvers by combining backward and forward motion. A lattice‐based path planning framework is developed in order to generate kinematically feasible and collision‐free paths and a path‐following controller is designed to stabilize the lateral and angular path‐following error states during path execution. To estimate the vehicle state needed for control, a nonlinear observer is developed, which only utilizes information from sensors that are mounted on the car‐like tractor, making the system independent of additional trailer sensors. The proposed path‐planning and path‐following control framework is implemented on a full‐scale test vehicle and results from simulations and real‐world experiments are presented.     

Multi‐parametric extremum seeking‐based iterative feedback gains tuning for nonlinear control

We study in this paper the problem of iterative feedback gains auto‐tuning for a class of nonlinear systems. For the class of input–output linearizable nonlinear systems with bounded additive uncertainties, we first design a nominal input–output linearization‐based robust controller that ensures global uniform boundedness of the output tracking error dynamics. Then, we complement the robust controller with a model‐free multi‐parametric extremum seeking control to iteratively auto‐tune the feedback gains. We analyze the stability of the whole controller, that is, the robust nonlinear controller combined with the multi‐parametric extremum seeking model‐free learning algorithm. We use numerical tests to demonstrate the performance of this method on a mechatronics example. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cooperative control of multiple surface vessels with discrete‐time periodic communications

This paper addresses the problem of cooperative path‐following of networked autonomous surface vessels with discrete‐time periodic communications. The objective is to steer a group of autonomous vehicles along given spatial paths, while holding a desired inter‐vehicle formation pattern. For a given class of marine vessels, we show how Lyapunov‐based techniques, graph theory, and results from networked control systems can be brought together to yield a decentralized control structure where the dynamics of the cooperating vessels and the constraints imposed by the topology of the inter‐vehicle communication network are explicitly taken into account. Cooperation is achieved by adjusting the speed of each vessel along its path according to information exchanged periodically on the positions of a subset of the other vessels, as determined by the communications topology adopted. The closed‐loop system that is obtained by putting together the path‐following and cooperation strategies takes an interconnected feedback form where both systems are input‐to‐state stable with respect to the outputs of each other. Using a small‐gain theorem, stability and convergence of the overall system are guaranteed for adequate choices of the controller gains. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A robust constrained control approach for flexible air‐breathing hypersonic vehicles

This article investigates the robust adaptive control system design for the longitudinal dynamics of a flexible air‐breathing hypersonic vehicle (FAHV) subject to parametric uncertainties and control input constraints. A combination of back‐stepping and nonlinear disturbance observer (NDO) is utilized for exploiting an adaptive output‐feedback controller to provide robust tracking of velocity and altitude reference trajectories in the presence of flexible effects and system uncertainties. The dynamic surface control is introduced to solve the problem of “explosion of terms.” A new NDO is developed to guarantee the proposed controller's disturbance attenuation ability and to performance robustness against uncertain aerodynamic coefficients. To deal with the problem of actuator saturation, a novel auxiliary system is exploited to compensate the desired control laws. The stability of the presented NDO and controller is analyzed. Simulation results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented control strategy.     

Nonlinear output feedback control of V2G single‐phase on‐board BEV charger

In this work, we consider the problem of controlling a single‐phase on‐board battery electric vehicle (BEV) charger with vehicle‐to‐grid (V2G) technology. The BEV charger consists of a bidirectional ac‐dc power converter connected to the single‐phase power grid, followed by a bidirectional dc‐dc power converter interfacing an EV battery pack. The main control objectives are fourfold: (i) Unitary Power Factor (UPF) in grid‐side; (ii) tight dc‐bus voltage regulation; (iii) safety battery charge and battery discharge during the grid‐to‐vehicle (G2V) mode and V2G mode, respectively; and (iv) asymptotic stability of the closed loop system. After an accurate system modelling, a nonlinear controller is designed using a backstepping design technique. The point is that the battery inner voltage is not accessible to measurement. Therefore, a nonlinear observer is invoked in order to estimate all non‐measured variables making the solution cheaper and noiseless. It is shown using a formal analysis and numerical simulations, that the proposed output feedback controller (combining a nonlinear controller and a nonlinear observer) meets all control objectives.     

Global output‐feedback stabilization for a class of stochastic nonlinear systems via sampled‐data control

In this paper, the global sampled‐data output‐feedback stabilization problem is considered for a class of stochastic nonlinear systems. First, based on output‐feedback domination technique and emulation approach, a systematic design procedure for sampled‐data output‐feedback controller is proposed for a class of stochastic lower‐triangular nonlinear systems. It is proved that the proposed sampled‐data output‐feedback controller will stabilize the given stochastic nonlinear system in the sense of mean square exponential stability. Because of the domination nature of the proposed control approach, it is shown that the proposed control approach can also be used to handle the global sampled‐data output‐feedback stabilization problems for a more general class of stochastic non‐triangular nonlinear systems. Finally, simulation examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fault‐tolerant path‐following control for in‐wheel‐motor‐driven autonomous ground vehicles with differential steering

Over the past several decades, the automobile industry has denoted significant research efforts to developing in‐wheel‐motor‐driven autonomous ground vehicles (IWM‐AGVs) with active front‐wheel steering. One of the most fundamental issues for IWM‐AGVs is path following, which is important for automated driving to ensure that the vehicle can track a target‐planned path during local navigation. However, the path‐following task may fail if the system experiences a stuck fault in the active front‐wheel steering. In this paper, a fault‐tolerant control (FTC) strategy is presented for the path following of IWM‐AGVs in the presence of a stuck fault in the active front‐wheel steering. For this purpose, differential steering is used to generate differential torque between the left and right wheels in IWM‐AGVs, and an adaptive triple‐step control approach is applied to realize coordinated lateral and longitudinal path‐following maneuvering. The parameter uncertainties for the cornering stiffness and external disturbances are considered to make the vehicles robust to different driving environments. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is evaluated with a high‐fidelity and full‐car model based on the veDYNA‐Simulink joint platform.     

Coverage Path Planning with Real‐time Replanning and Surface Reconstruction for Inspection of Three‐dimensional Underwater Structures using Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

We present a novel method for planning coverage paths for inspecting complex structures on the ocean floor using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). Our method initially uses a 2.5‐dimensional (2.5D) prior bathymetric map to plan a nominal coverage path that allows the AUV to pass its sensors over all points on the target area. The nominal path uses a standard mowing‐the‐lawn pattern in effectively planar regions, while in regions with substantial 3D relief it follows horizontal contours of the terrain at a given offset distance. We then go beyond previous approaches in the literature by considering the vehicle's state uncertainty rather than relying on the unrealistic assumption of an idealized path execution. Toward that end, we present a replanning algorithm based on a stochastic trajectory optimization that reshapes the nominal path to cope with the actual target structure perceived in situ. The replanning algorithm runs onboard the AUV in real time during the inspection mission, adapting the path according to the measurements provided by the vehicle's range‐sensing sonars. Furthermore, we propose a pipeline of state‐of‐the‐art surface reconstruction techniques we apply to the data acquired by the AUV to obtain 3D models of the inspected structures that show the benefits of our planning method for 3D mapping. We demonstrate the efficacy of our method in experiments at sea using the GIRONA 500 AUV, where we cover part of a breakwater structure in a harbor and an underwater boulder rising from 40 m up to 27 m depth.     

马尔科夫链通信拓扑下的车辆队列最优能耗控制

针对马尔科夫链通信拓扑下的车辆队列控制问题,综合考虑车辆队列的非线性动力学模型和行驶能耗优化目标,提出一种基于分布式状态观测器的车辆队列能耗优化控制方法.由于在马尔科夫链通信拓扑下,部分车辆获取的邻居车辆信息具有动态切换特性,严重影响了车辆队列控制算法的有效性和稳定性.鉴于此,首先,设计一种用于估计领航车辆状态信息的状态观测器,有效避免通讯拓扑切换对队列控制系统造成的干扰;然后,结合车辆的非线性动力学模型与队列优化目标,构建一种基于指数折扣函数的车辆队列能耗优化框架,将车辆队列的能耗优化问题转化为Riccati方程的求解问题,进而得到车辆队列的最优能耗控制输入,在此基础上,通过构造动态通信拓扑下的李雅普诺夫函数,分析车辆队列控制系统的稳定性条件,即只要每个可能的通信拓扑均需包含一个以领航车辆为根的有向生成树,就可使得该车辆队列控制系统满足稳定性和队列稳定性;最后,通过数值仿真验证所提出控制算法的可行性和有效性.     

Time‐ and State‐Dependent Input Delay‐Compensated Bang‐Bang Control of a Screw Extruder for 3D Printing

In this paper, a delay‐compensated bang‐bang control design methodology for the control of the nozzle output flow rate of screw extruder‐based three‐dimensional printing processes is developed. A geometrical decomposition of the screw extruder in a partially and a fully filled regions allows to describe the material convection in the extruder chamber by a one‐dimensional hyperbolic partial differential equation (PDE) coupled with an ordinary differential equation. After solving the hyperbolic PDE by the method of characteristics, the coupled PDE–ordinary differential equation's system is transformed into a nonlinear state‐dependent input delay system. The aforementioned delay system is extended to the non‐isothermal case with the consideration of periodic fluctuations acting on the material's convection speed, which represent the process variabilities due to temperature changes in the extruder chamber, resulting to a nonlinear system with an input delay that simultaneously depends on the state and the time variable. Global exponential stability of the nonlinear delay‐free plant is established under a piecewise exponential feedback controller that is designed. By combining the nominal, piecewise exponential feedback controller with nonlinear predictor feedback, the compensation of the time‐dependent and state‐dependent input delay of the extruder model is achieved. Global asymptotic stability of the closed‐loop system under the bang‐bang predictor feedback control law is established when certain conditions related to the extruder design and the material properties, as well as to the magnitude and frequency of the materials transport speed variations, are satisfied. Simulations results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control design. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Valve Position‐based Control at Engine Key‐on of an Electro‐mechanical Valve Actuator for Camless Engines: A Robust Controller Tuning Via Bifurcation Analysis

Electro‐mechanical valve actuators (EMVA) formed by two opposed electromagnets and two balanced springs are appealing solutions to implement advanced combustion concepts for camless engines. A crucial control problem for this valve actuator regards the first valve lift manoeuvre (termed 'first catching') to be rapidly performed after each insertion of the engine ignition key, when the EMVA rests at middle position where electromagnets offer low control authority. The control problem is challenging due to system nonlinear behavior. Mathematically, the EMVA system can be assumed to be a spring‐mass impacting system affected by a non‐smooth friction force and a dynamic saturated magnetic force. In this work an effective valve position‐based first catching control strategy is proposed to control the strongly nonlinear system. Bifurcation analysis and parameter space simulations are used to study the closed‐loop system behavior and to tune the controller gains as well. The effectiveness of the control approach is validated through numerical simulations of a highly predictive dynamic model of the valve actuator developed by authors in a previous work.     

Delay‐range‐dependent control of nonlinear time‐delay systems under input saturation

This paper describes a delay‐range‐dependent local state feedback controller synthesis approach providing estimation of the region of stability for nonlinear time‐delay systems under input saturation. By employing a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional, properties of nonlinear functions, local sector condition and Jensen's inequality, a sufficient condition is derived for stabilization of nonlinear systems with interval delays varying within a range. Novel solutions to the delay‐range‐dependent and delay‐dependent stabilization problems for linear and nonlinear time‐delay systems, respectively, subject to input saturation are derived as specific scenarios of the proposed control strategy. Also, a delay‐rate‐independent condition for control of nonlinear systems in the presence of input saturation with unknown delay‐derivative bound information is established. And further, a robust state feedback controller synthesis scheme ensuring L₂ gain reduction from disturbance to output is devised to address the problem of the stabilization of input‐constrained nonlinear time‐delay systems with varying interval lags. The proposed design conditions can be solved using linear matrix inequality tools in connection with conventional cone complementary linearization algorithms. Simulation results for an unstable nonlinear time‐delay network and a large‐scale chemical reactor under input saturation and varying interval time‐delays are analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Design proportional‐integral‐derivative/proportional‐derivative controls for second‐order time‐varying switched nonlinear systems

Based on proportional‐integral‐derivative (PID)/PD controls, we in the article investigate the tracking problem of a class of second‐order time‐varying switched nonlinear systems. To start with, for tracking a given point under arbitrary switching signals, we propose a sufficient condition about PID controller parameters, which can be implicitly described as semialgebraic sets. Successively, we consider the tracking problem under average dwell time (ADT)‐based switching signals and propose an alternative sufficient condition about PID controller parameters. Especially, for tracking an equilibrium point of the system without controls, we can further simply utilize the proportional‐derivative control and similarly construct corresponding semialgebraic conditions about proportional‐derivative controller parameters under arbitrary switching signals and ADT‐based switching signals. Finally, two examples are given to show the applicability of our theoretical results.     

Adaptive backstepping‐based control design for uncertain nonlinear active suspension system with input delay

This paper addresses the control problem of adaptive backstepping control for a class of nonlinear active suspension systems considering the model uncertainties and actuator input delays and presents a novel adaptive backstepping‐based controller design method. Based on the established nonlinear active suspension model, a projector operator–based adaptive control law is first developed to estimate the uncertain sprung‐mass online, and then the desirable controller design and stability analysis are conducted by combining backstepping technique and Lyapunov stability theory, which can not only deal with the actuator input delay but also achieve better dynamics performances and safety constraints requirements of the closed‐loop control system. Furthermore, the relationship between the input delay and the state variables of this vehicle suspension system is derived to present a simple and effective method of calculating the critical input delay. Finally, a numerical simulation investigation is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.     

Node‐to‐node consensus of multi‐agent networks with event‐triggered control and packet losses

This paper studies the node‐to‐node consensus problem for multi‐agent networks possessing a leaders' layer and a followers' layer via the pinning control. In order to realize the consensus and reduce the update frequency of the controller, a suitable event‐triggered mechanism is introduced into the control strategy. Furthermore, the phenomenon of packet loss is considered in the designed controller. Based on the M‐matrix theory and Lyapunov stability theory, this paper presents the sufficient conditions for the node‐to‐node consensus of networks. Meanwhile, it is proved that the Zeno behaviour is excluded. Finally, two numerical simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.     

Fixed‐Time Synchronization of a Class of Second‐Order Nonlinear Leader‐Following Multi‐Agent Systems

The fixed‐time synchronization problem for a class of second‐order nonlinear multi‐agent systems with a leader‐follower architecture is investigated in this paper. To achieve the fixed‐time tracking task, the design procedure is divided into two steps. At the first step, a distributed fixed‐time observer is designed for each agent to estimate the leader's state in a fixed time. Then, at the second step, based on the technique of adding a power integrator, a fixed‐time tracking controller for each agent is proposed such that the estimate leader's state can be tracked in a fixed time. Finally, an observer‐based fixed‐time controller is developed such that the leader can be tracked by all the followers in a fixed time, which can be predetermined. Simulations are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.