On transient performance improvement of adaptive control architectures

While adaptive control theory has been used in numerous applications to achieve given system stabilisation or command following criteria without excessive reliance on mathematical models, the ability to obtain a predictable transient performance is still an important problem – especially for applications to safety-critical systems and when there is no a-priori knowledge on upper bounds of existing system uncertainties. To address this problem, we present a new approach to improve the transient performance of adaptive control architectures. In particular, our approach is predicated on a novel controller architecture, which involves added terms in the update law entitled artificial basis functions. These terms are constructed through a gradient optimisation procedure to minimise the system error between an uncertain dynamical system and a given reference model during the learning phase of an adaptive controller. We provide a detailed stability analysis of the proposed approach, discuss the practical aspects of its implementation, and illustrate its efficacy on a numerical example.     

A set-theoretic model reference adaptive control architecture for disturbance rejection and uncertainty suppression with strict performance guarantees

Research in adaptive control algorithms for safety-critical applications is primarily motivated by the fact that these algorithms have the capability to suppress the effects of adverse conditions resulting from exogenous disturbances, imperfect dynamical system modelling, degraded modes of operation, and changes in system dynamics. Although government and industry agree on the potential of these algorithms in providing safety and reducing vehicle development costs, a major issue is the inability to achieve a-priori, user-defined performance guarantees with adaptive control algorithms. In this paper, a new model reference adaptive control architecture for uncertain dynamical systems is presented to address disturbance rejection and uncertainty suppression. The proposed framework is predicated on a set-theoretic adaptive controller construction using generalised restricted potential functions.The key feature of this framework allows the system error bound between the state of an uncertain dynamical system and the state of a reference model, which captures a desired closed-loop system performance, to be less than a-priori, user-defined worst-case performance bound, and hence, it has the capability to enforce strict performance guarantees. Examples are provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed set-theoretic model reference adaptive control architecture.     

Improving transient performance of adaptive control architectures using frequency-limited system error dynamics

Although adaptive control theory offers mathematical tools to achieve system performance without excessive reliance on dynamical system models, its applications to safety-critical systems can be limited due to poor transient performance and robustness. In this paper, we develop an adaptive control architecture to achieve stabilisation and command following of uncertain dynamical systems with improved transient performance. Our framework consists of a new reference system and an adaptive controller. The proposed reference system captures a desired closed-loop dynamical system behaviour modified by a mismatch term representing the high-frequency content between the uncertain dynamical system and this reference system, i.e., the system error. In particular, this mismatch term allows the frequency content of the system error dynamics to be limited, which is used to drive the adaptive controller. It is shown that this key feature of our framework yields fast adaptation without incurring high-frequency oscillations in the transient performance. We further show the effects of design parameters on the system performance, analyse closeness of the uncertain dynamical system to the unmodified (ideal) reference system, discuss robustness of the proposed approach with respect to time-varying uncertainties and disturbances, and make connections to gradient minimisation and classical control theory. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed architecture.     

Recursive filtering adaptive fault‐tolerant tracking control for uncertain switched multivariable nonlinear systems

This article synthesizes a recursive filtering adaptive fault‐tolerant tracking control method for uncertain switched multivariable nonlinear systems. The multivariable nonlinear systems under consideration have both matched and mismatched uncertainties, which satisfy the semiglobal Lipschitz condition. A piecewise constant adaptive law generates adaptive parameters by solving the error dynamics with the neglection of unknowns, and the recursive least squares is employed to minimize the residual error by categorizing the total uncertainty estimates into matched and mismatched components. A filtering control law is designed to compensate the actuator faults and nonlinear uncertainties such that a good tracking performance is delivered with guaranteed robustness. The matched component is canceled directly by adopting their opposite in the control signal, whereas a dynamic inversion of the system is performed to eliminate the effect of the mismatched component on the output. By exploiting the average dwell time principle, the error bounds are derived for the states and control inputs compared with the virtual reference system which defines the best performance that can be achieved by the closed‐loop system. Both numerical and practical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed switching recursive filtering adaptive fault‐tolerant tracking control architecture, comparisons with model reference adaptive control are also carried out.     

Adaptive architectures for control of uncertain dynamical systems with actuator and unmodeled dynamics

In adaptive control of uncertain dynamical systems, it is well known that the presence of actuator and/or unmodeled dynamics in feedback loops can yield to unstable closed‐loop system trajectories. Motivated by this standpoint, this paper focuses on the analysis and synthesis of multiple adaptive architectures for control of uncertain dynamical systems with both actuator and unmodeled dynamics. Specifically, we first analyze model reference adaptive control architectures with standard, hedging‐based, and expanded reference models for this class of uncertain dynamical systems and develop sufficient stability conditions. We then synthesize a robustifying term for the latter architecture and analytically show that this term can allow for a relaxed sufficient stability condition. The proposed theoretical treatments involve Lyapunov stability theory, linear matrix inequalities, and matrix mathematics. Finally, we compare the resulting sufficient stability conditions of the considered adaptive control architectures on a benchmark mechanical system subject to actuator and unmodeled dynamics.     

Extended filtering high‐gain output feedback controller for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems subject to external disturbances

In this article, an extended filtering high‐gain output feedback controller is developed for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems subject to external disturbances. The nonlinearities under consideration satisfy a semiglobal Lipschitz condition. The proposed control architecture integrates the extended state observer (ESO), high gain, and low‐pass filter together. None of them is used alone. The ESO can not only estimate the unknown internal state, but also deliver a good property of disturbance rejection simultaneously due to the presence of high gain. Since the high gain deteriorates the robustness of the system, a low‐pass filtering mechanism is added in the control law to filter away aggressive signals and recover the robustness. The filtering control law is designed to compensate the nonlinear uncertainties and deliver a good tracking performance with guaranteed stability. The matched uncertainties are canceled directly by adopting their opposite in the control signal, whereas a dynamic inversion of the system is required to eliminate the effect of the mismatched uncertainties on the output. Since the virtual reference system defines the best performance that can be achieved by the closed‐loop system, the uniform performance bounds are derived for the states and control signals via comparison. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the novel design via comparisons with the model reference adaptive control method and L₁ adaptive controller.     

LMI optimization approach to robust H∞ observer design and static output feedback stabilization for discrete‐time nonlinear uncertain systems

A new approach for the design of robust H_∞ observers for a class of Lipschitz nonlinear systems with time‐varying uncertainties is proposed based on linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). The admissible Lipschitz constant of the system and the disturbance attenuation level are maximized simultaneously through convex multiobjective optimization. The resulting H_∞ observer guarantees asymptotic stability of the estimation error dynamics and is robust against nonlinear additive uncertainty and time‐varying parametric uncertainties. Explicit norm‐wise and element‐wise bounds on the tolerable nonlinear uncertainty are derived. Also, a new method for the robust output feedback stabilization with H_∞ performance for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems is proposed. Our solution is based on a noniterative LMI optimization and is less restrictive than the existing solutions. The bounds on the nonlinear uncertainty and multiobjective optimization obtained for the observer are also applicable to the proposed static output feedback stabilizing controller. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Computing actuator bandwidth limits for model reference adaptive control

Although model reference adaptive control theory has been used in numerous applications to achieve system performance without excessive reliance on dynamical system models, the presence of actuator dynamics can seriously limit the stability and the achievable performance of adaptive controllers. In this paper, a linear matrix inequalities-based hedging approach is developed and evaluated for model reference adaptive control of uncertain dynamical systems in the presence of actuator dynamics. The hedging method modifies the ideal reference model dynamics in order to allow correct adaptation that is not affected by the presence of actuator dynamics. Specifically, we first generalise the hedging approach to cover a variety of cases in which actuator output and the control effectiveness matrix of the uncertain dynamical system are known and unknown. We then show the stability of the closed-loop dynamical system using Lyapunov-based stability analysis tools and propose a linear matrix inequality-based framework for the computation of the minimum allowable actuator bandwidth limits such that the closed-loop dynamical system remains stable. Finally, an illustrative numerical example is provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.     

Robust adaptive fuzzy controller for non‐affine nonlinear systems with dynamic rule activation

This paper describes the design of a robust adaptive fuzzy controller for an uncertain single‐input single‐output nonlinear dynamical systems. While most recent results on fuzzy controllers considers affine systems with fixed rule‐base fuzzy systems, we propose a control scheme for non‐affine nonlinear systems and a dynamic fuzzy rule activation scheme in which an appropriate number of the fuzzy rules are chosen on‐line. By using the proposed scheme, we can reduce the computation time, storage space, and dynamic order of the adaptive fuzzy system without significant performance degradation. The Lyapunov synthesis approach is used to guarantee a uniform ultimate boundedness property for the tracking error, as well as for all other signals in the closed loop. No a priori knowledge of an upper bounds on the uncertainties is required. The theoretical results are illustrated through a simulation example. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Decentralized filtering adaptive constrained tracking control for interconnected nonlinear systems

This paper presents a novel decentralized filtering adaptive constrained tracking control framework for uncertain interconnected nonlinear systems. Each subsystem has its own decentralized controller based on the established decentralized state predictor. For each subsystem, a piecewise constant adaptive law will generate total uncertainty estimates by solving the error dynamics between the host system and decentralized state predictor with the neglection of unknowns, whereas a decentralized filtering control law is designed to compensate both local and mismatched uncertainties from other subsystems, as well as achieve the local objective tracking of the host system. The achievement of global objective depends on the achievement of local objective for each subsystem. In the control scheme, the nonlinear uncertainties are compensated for within the bandwidth of low‐pass filters, while the trade‐off between tracking and constraints violation avoidance is formulated as a numerical constrained optimization problem which is solved periodically. Priority is given to constraints violation avoidance at the cost of deteriorated tracking performance. The uniform performance bounds are derived for the system states and control inputs as compared to the corresponding signals of a bounded closed‐loop reference system, which assumes partial cancelation of uncertainties within the bandwidth of the control signal. Compared with model predictive control (MPC) and unconstrained controller, the proposed control architecture is capable of solving the tracking control problems for interconnected nonlinear systems subject to constraints and uncertainties.     

Dynamical adaptive integral backstepping variable structure controller design for uncertain systems and experimental application

In this study, a dynamical adaptive integral backstepping variable structure control (DAIBVSC) system based on the Lyapunov stability theorem is proposed for the trajectory tracking control of a nonlinear uncertain mechatronic system with disturbances. In this control scheme, no prior knowledge is required on the uncertain parameters and disturbances because it is estimated by two types of dynamical adaptive laws. These adaptive laws are integrated into the dynamical adaptive integral backstepping control and variable structure control (VSC) parts of the DAIBVSC. The dynamical adaptive law in the dynamical adaptive integral backstepping control part updates parametric uncertainties, while the other in the VSC part adapts upper bounds of non‐parametric uncertainties and disturbances. In order to achieve a more robust output tracking and better parameter adaptation, the control system is extended by one integrator and sliding surface is augmented by an integral action. Experimental evaluation of the DAIBVSC is conducted with respect to performance and robustness to parametric uncertainties. Experimental results of the DAIBVSC are compared with those of a traditional VSC. The proposed DAIBVSC exhibits satisfactory output tracking performance, good estimation of the uncertain parameters and can reject disturbances with a chattering free control law. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

具有不确定未知界的相似组合系统的鲁棒自适应跟踪控制

讨论一类具有相似结构的不确定组合系统的鲁棒自适应跟踪问题。针对系统的不确定性界和扰动界完全未知的情形，首先从理论上证明了可设计鲁棒自适应分散跟踪控制器，确保受控系统的输出渐近跟踪参考模型的输出；进而从工程实际的角度，给出了确保受控系统输出实用跟踪参考模型输出的鲁棒自适应分散跟踪控制器的设计方案。     

A variable structure control with simple adaptation laws for upperbounds on the norm of the uncertainties

In deterministic design of feedback controllers for uncertain dynamical systems, upper bounds on the norm of the uncertainties are an important clue to guarantee the stability of the closed-loop system. Sometimes, however these upper bounds may not be easily obtained because of the complexity of structure of the uncertainties. Simple adaptation laws for upper bounds on the norm of the uncertainties are proposed, and these adaptive upper bounds are used to design a variable-structure control system that guarantees the asymptotic stability of uncertain dynamical systems     

Active Disturbance Rejection Control System Design for a Morphing Wing Structure

Control system design for a morphing wing structure, which is proposed by NextGen Aeronautics, Inc., is investigated in this paper. The dynamic model of the morphing wing, developed based on the Euler‐Lagrange equation, is nonlinear, multivariable coupled, over‐actuated and uncertain. The allocation‐decoupling controller is designed based on control efficiency and decoupling matrices. For each decoupled subsystem, nonlinear and linear active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) systems are designed and compared. The time‐optimal property and the convergence of nonlinear ADRC are analyzed theoretically based on the isochronic region and Lyapunov theories. The simulation results of the developed control systems show satisfactory performances of decoupling and extreme tolerance of internal uncertainty and external disturbance. The comparison of nonlinear and linear ADRC systems demonstrate that the nonlinear system can provide a little better performance while the linear system can greatly simplify the design procedure. The results indicate that, the methods of control system design proposed in this paper are practical and effective for motion control of complex uncertain dynamical systems.     

A New Neuroadaptive Control Architecture for Nonlinear Uncertain Dynamical Systems: Beyond $sigma $- and $e$-Modifications

This paper develops a new neuroadaptive control architecture for nonlinear uncertain dynamical systems. The proposed framework involves a novel controller architecture involving additional terms in the update laws that are constructed using a moving time window of the integrated system uncertainty. These terms can be used to identify the ideal system weights of the neural network as well as effectively suppress and cancel system uncertainty without the need for persistency of excitation. A nonlinear parametrization of the system uncertainty is considered and state and output feedback neuroadaptive controllers are developed. To illustrate the efficacy of the proposed approach we apply our results to a spacecraft model with unknown moment of inertia and compare our results with standard neuroadaptive control methods.      

Fast reference governors for second-order linear systems with constraints and an input time-delay

This note provides a solution to the constrained command tracking problem using reference governors for a class of continuous-time second order linear systems with an input delay and with pointwise-in-time state and control constraints. The reference governor modifies the command to a closed-loop system based on the prediction of whether the system response to constant commands violates the specified constraints. The solution relies on classical control results for second order linear systems and requires only checking whether predicted outputs violate the constraints at a small number of time instants (e.g., four time instants in the single output case). This greatly simplifies the online computation, especially when a reference governor is applied to system models that are (slowly) changing in time. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by a numerical example.     

ADAPTIVE ROBUST CONTROL OF UNCERTAIN SYSTEMS WITH TIME‐VARYING STATE DELAY

In this paper, a new adaptive robust control scheme is developed for a class of uncertain dynamical systems with time‐varying state delay, unknown parameters and disturbances. By incorporating adaptive techniques into the robust control method, we propose a continuous adaptive robust controller which guarantees the uniform boundedness of the system and at the same time, the regulating error enters an arbitrarily designated zone in a finite time. The proposed controller is independent of the time‐delay, hence it is applicable to a class of dynamical systems with uncertain time delays. The paper includes simulation studies demonstrating the performance of the proposed control scheme.     

Probability‐weighted nonlinear stochastic optimal control strategy of quasi‐integrable Hamiltonian systems with uncertain parameters

The nonlinear stochastic optimal control problem of quasi‐integrable Hamiltonian systems with uncertain parameters is investigated. The uncertain parameters are described by using a random vector with λ probability density function. First, the partially averaged Itô stochastic differential equations are derived by using the stochastic averaging method for quasi‐integrable Hamiltonian systems. Then, the dynamical programming equation is established based on stochastic dynamical programming principle. By minimizing the dynamical programming equation with respect to control forces, the optimal control forces can be derived, which are functions of the uncertain parameters. The final optimal control forces are then determined by probability‐weighted average of the obtained control forces with the probability density of the uncertain parameters as weighting function. The mean control effectiveness and mean control efficiency are used to evaluate the proposed control strategy. The robustness of the proposed control is measured by using the ratios of the variation coefficients of mean control effectiveness and mean control efficiency to the variation coefficients of uncertain parameters. Finally, two examples are given to illustrate the proposed control strategy and its effectiveness and robustness. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

受限指令预设性能自适应反演控制器设计

针对一类含参数不确定性的输入和状态受限的非线性系统,提出一种受限指令预设性能自适应反演控制器设计方法.采用自适应反演方法,同时考虑输入和状态受限构建受限指令滤波器,以解决“计算膨胀”的问题;引入伪控制减缓方法对误差进行补偿;最后考虑了补偿跟踪误差的瞬态性能.通过Lyapunov理论对所设计的控制器进行稳定性分析,并通过仿真实例验证了所提出方法的正确性和有效性.     

Robust H ∞ model predictive control for uncertain systems using relaxation matrices

In this paper, a robust H _∞ model predictive control (MPC) technique is proposed for time-varying uncertain discrete-time systems in the presence of input constraints and disturbances. We formulate a minimization problem of the upper bound of finite horizon cost function subject to the terminal inequality for an induced l ₂-norm bound. In order to improve system performance, we propose an LMI condition for the terminal inequality by using relaxation matrices. The LMI condition guarantees induced l ₂-norm bounds of the system despite system uncertainty and disturbance. A numerical example shows the effectiveness of the proposed method.