Magnetic sensor-based simultaneous state and parameter estimation using a nonlinear observer

This paper presents an observer design technique for a newly developed non-intrusive position estimation system based on magnetic sensors. Typically, the magnetic field of an object as a function of position needs to be represented by a highly nonlinear measurement equation. Previous results on observer design for nonlinear systems have mostly assumed that the measurement equation is linear, even if the process dynamics are nonlinear. Hence, a new nonlinear observer design method for a Wiener system composed of a linear process model together with a nonlinear measurement equation is developed in this paper. First, the design of a two degree-of-freedom nonlinear observer is proposed that relies on a Lure system representation of the observer error dynamics. To improve the performance in the presence of parametric uncertainty in the measurement model, the nonlinear observer is augmented to estimate both the state and unknown parameters simultaneously. A rigorous nonlinear observability analysis is also presented to show that a dual sensor configuration is a sufficient and necessary condition for simultaneous state and parameter estimation. Finally, the developed observer design technique is applied to non-intrusive position estimation of the piston inside a pneumatic cylinder. Experimental results show that both position and unknown parameters can be reliably estimated in this application.     

Robust‐Adaptive Control Strategies for a Time Delay Bioelectrochemical Process Using Interval Observers

The paper addresses the design and the analysis of adaptive and robust‐adaptive control strategies for a complex recycled wastewater treatment bioprocess. The design procedures are developed under the realistic assumptions that the bacterial growth rates are unknown and the influent flow rates are time‐varying and uncertain, but some lower and upper bounds of these uncertainties are known. The proposed control structures are achieved by combining a linearizing control law with an appropriately (asymptotic or interval based) state observer and with a parameter estimator used for on‐line estimation of unknown kinetics. These approaches are applied to a complex time delay bioprocess resulting from the association of a recycling bioreactor with an electrochemical reactor. Numerical simulations are performed in order to validate the proposed algorithms.     

A geometric approach for adaptive estimation of unknown growth kinetics in bioreactors

This paper proposes a new approach for the estimation of unknown and time-varying specific growth rate in fed-batch bioprocess. A novel adaptive estimation technique based on the concept of invariant manifold is proposed as an effective approach to estimate growth kinetic parameters. An asymptotic nonlinear observer is used to provide simultaneous on-line estimation of biomass concentration and growth kinetic. The method is easy to implement and requires only one tuning parameter. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is illustrated with representative bioreactor simulation examples.     

Vehicle state estimation for anti-lock control with nonlinear observer

Vehicle state estimation during anti-lock braking is considered. A novel nonlinear observer based on a vehicle dynamics model and a simplified Pacejka tire model is introduced in order to provide estimates of longitudinal and lateral vehicle velocities and the tire-road friction coefficient for vehicle safety control systems, specifically anti-lock braking control. The approach differs from previous work on vehicle state estimation in two main respects. The first is the introduction of a switched nonlinear observer in order to deal with the fact that in some driving situations the information provided by the sensor is not sufficient to carry out state estimation (i.e., not all states are observable). This is shown through an observability analysis. The second contribution is the introduction of tire-road friction estimation depending on vehicle longitudinal motion. Stability properties of the observer are analyzed using a Lyapunov function based method. Practical applicability of the proposed nonlinear observer is shown by means of experimental results.     

Observer forms for perspective systems

The estimation of three-dimensional position information from two-dimensional images in computer vision systems can be formulated as a state estimation problem for a nonlinear perspective dynamic system. The multi-output state estimation problem has been treated by several authors using methods for nonlinear observer design. This paper shows that a perspective system can be transformed to two observer forms, and provides constructive methods for arriving at the transformations. These observer forms lead to straightforward observer designs. First, it is shown that, using an output transformation, the system admits an observer form which leads to an observer with linear error dynamics. A second observer design is based on a time-scaled block triangular form. Both designs assume a commonly used observability condition. The designs are demonstrated in simulation.     

Robust moving horizon estimation based output feedback economic model predictive control

In this work, we develop an economic model predictive control scheme for a class of nonlinear systems with bounded process and measurement noise. In order to achieve fast convergence of the state estimates to the actual system state as well as the robustness of the observer to measurement and process noise, a deterministic (high-gain) observer is first applied for a small time period with continuous output measurements to drive the estimation error to a small value; after this initial small time period, a robust moving horizon estimation scheme is used on-line to provide more accurate and smoother state estimates. In the design of the robust moving horizon estimation scheme, the deterministic observer is used to calculate reference estimates and confidence regions that contain the actual system state. Within the confidence regions, the moving horizon estimation scheme is allowed to optimize its estimates. The output feedback economic model predictive controller is designed via Lyapunov techniques based on state estimates provided by the deterministic observer and the moving horizon estimation scheme. The stability of the closed-loop system is analyzed rigorously and conditions that ensure the closed-loop stability are derived. Extensive simulations based on a chemical process example illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

A weighted variable gain super-twisting observer for the estimation of kinetic rates in biological systems

The knowledge of kinetic reaction rates is important for monitoring and controlling biotechnological processes. However, the lack of on-line sensors for this purpose and the inherent problems with numerical differentiation make observers indispensable. In this work, we propose the use of a weighted variable gain super-twisting observer (WVGSTO), applicable to a class of second-order nonlinear systems that include a measurable weight on the unmeasured variable and the possibility of bounding the perturbations with measurable functions. This estimation method is illustrated with an academic example and then applied to a fed-batch bioprocess.     

Observer-based perturbation extremum seeking control with input constraints for direct-contact membrane distillation process

An observer-based perturbation extremum seeking control is proposed for a direct-contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process. The process is described with a dynamic model that is based on a 2D advection-diffusion equation model which has pump flow rates as process inputs. The objective of the controller is to optimise the trade-off between the permeate mass flux and the energy consumption by the pumps inside the process. Cases of single and multiple control inputs are considered through the use of only the feed pump flow rate or both the feed and the permeate pump flow rates. A nonlinear Lyapunov-based observer is designed to provide an estimation for the temperature distribution all over the designated domain of the DCMD process. Moreover, control inputs are constrained with an anti-windup technique to be within feasible and physical ranges. Performance of the proposed structure is analysed, and simulations based on real DCMD process parameters for each control input are provided.     

A sliding mode observer for uncertain nonlinear systems based on multiple models approach

This paper presents a method of state estimation for uncertain nonlinear systems described by multiple models approach. The uncertainties, supposed as norm bounded type, are caused by some parameters’ variations of the nonlinear system. Linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) have been established in order to ensure the stability conditions of the multiple observer which lead to determine the estimation gains. A sliding mode gain has been added in order to compensate the uncertainties. Numerical simulations through a state space model of a real process have been realized to show the robustness of the synthesized observer.     

A nonlinear position and attitude observer on SE(3) using landmark measurements

This paper addresses the problem of position and attitude estimation, based on landmark readings and velocity measurements. A derivation of a nonlinear observer on SE(3) is presented, using a Lyapunov function conveniently expressed as a function of the difference between the estimated and the measured landmark coordinates. The resulting feedback laws are explicit functions of the landmark measurements and velocity readings, exploiting the sensor information directly in the observer. The proposed observer yields almost global asymptotic stabilization of the position and attitude errors and exponential convergence in any closed ball inside the region of attraction. Also, it is shown that the asymptotic convergence of the estimation error trajectories is shaped by the landmark geometry and observer design parameters. The problem of non-ideal velocity readings is also considered, and the observer is augmented to compensate for bias in the angular and linear velocity measurements. The resulting position, attitude, and bias estimation errors are shown to converge exponentially fast to the desired equilibrium points, for bounded initial estimation errors. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the stability and convergence properties of the observer.     

Eigenspectrum-based extended Luenberger observers for a class of distributed parameter systems

State estimation is an important problem in distributed parameter system especially with nonlinear dynamics in industrial process. An extended Luenberger observer based on the eigen-spectrum of the system operator is developed in this paper to handle this problem. The distributed parameter system is projected into a finite-dimensional subspace where a low-order ordinary differential equation describing the dominant dynamics of the system is derived. A Luenberger observer extended with a nonlinear part is developed based on that dominant dynamics. A sufficient condition is given in this paper for the convergence of the estimated error. Finally, by applying the developed design method to the temperature estimation of a catalytic rod, the achieved simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed observer.     

Recursive parameter estimation methods and convergence analysis for a special class of nonlinear systems

This paper is concerned with the joint estimation of states and parameters of a special class of nonlinear systems, ie, bilinear systems. The key is to investigate new estimation methods for interactive state and parameter estimation of the considered system based on the interactive estimation theory. Because the system states are unknown, a bilinear state observer is established based on the Kalman filtering principle. Then, the unavailable states are updated by the state observer outputs recursively. Once the state estimates are obtained, the bilinear state observer–based hierarchical stochastic gradient algorithm is developed by using the gradient search. For the purpose of improving the convergence rate and the parameter estimation accuracy, a bilinear state observer–based hierarchical multi‐innovation stochastic gradient algorithm is proposed by expanding a scalar innovation to an innovation vector. The convergence analysis indicates that the parameter estimates can converge to their true values. The numerical example illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.     

Estimation of road frictional force and wheel slip for effective antilock braking system (ABS) control

The introduction of electric braking via brake‐by‐wire systems in electric vehicles) has reduced the high transportation delays usually involved in conventional friction braking systems. This has facilitated the design of more efficient and advanced control schemes for antilock braking systems (ABSs). However, accurate estimation of the tire‐road friction coefficient, which cannot be measured directly, is required. This paper presents a review of existing estimation methods, focusing on sliding‐mode techniques, followed by the development of a novel friction estimation technique, which is used to design an efficient ABS control system. This is a novel slip‐based estimation method, which accommodates the coupling between the vehicle dynamics, wheel dynamics, and suspension dynamics in a cascaded structure. A higher‐order sliding‐mode observer–based scheme is designed, considering the nonlinear relationship between friction and slip. A first‐order sliding‐mode observer is also designed based on a purely linear relationship. A key feature of the proposed estimation schemes is the inclusion of road slope and the effective radius of the tire as an estimated state. These parameters impact significantly on the accuracy of slip and friction estimation. The performance of the proposed estimation schemes are validated and benchmarked against a Kalman filter (KF) by a series of simulation tests. It is demonstrated that the sliding‐mode observer paradigm is an important tool in developing the next generation ABS systems for electric vehicles.     

Disturbance attenuation and rejection for systems with nonlinearity via DOBC approach

In this paper the disturbance attenuation and rejection problem is investigated for a class of MIMO nonlinear systems in the disturbance‐observer‐based control (DOBC) framework. The unknown external disturbances are supposed to be generated by an exogenous system, where some classic assumptions on disturbances can be removed. Two kinds of nonlinear dynamics in the plants are considered, respectively, which correspond to the known and unknown functions. Design schemes are presented for both the full‐order and reduced‐order disturbance observers via LMI‐based algorithms. For the plants with known nonlinearity, it is shown that the full‐order observer can be constructed by augmenting the estimation of disturbances into the full‐state estimation, and the reduced‐order ones can be designed by using of the separation principle. For the uncertain nonlinearity, the problem can be reduced to a robust observer design problem. By integrating the disturbance observers with conventional control laws, the disturbances can be rejected and the desired dynamic performances can be guaranteed. If the disturbance also has perturbations, it is shown that the proposed approaches are infeasible and further research is required in the future. Finally, simulations for a flight control system is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the results. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

State estimation of two-time scale multiple models. Application to wastewater treatment plant

This paper addresses the state estimation of two-time scale nonlinear systems with an unknown input multi-observer (UIMO). In order to design such an observer, the nonlinear system presented in a singular perturbed form is transformed into an equivalent multiple model with unmeasurable premise variables (UPV) affected by unknown inputs (UI). Then an observer is built and the stability analysis of the state reconstruction error is performed by using the Lyapunov method that leads to the resolution of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). The performances of the proposed estimation method are highlighted through the application to a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) model.     

Adaptive nonlinear observer for state and unknown parameter estimation in noisy systems

This paper proposes a novel adaptive observer for Lipschitz nonlinear systems and dissipative nonlinear systems in the presence of disturbances and sensor noise. The observer is based on an H_∞ observer that can estimate both the system states and unknown parameters by minimising a cost function consisting of the sum of the square integrals of the estimation errors in the states and unknown parameters. The paper presents necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of the observer, and the equations for determining observer gains are formulated as linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) that can be solved offline using commercially available LMI solvers. The observer design has also been extended to the case of time-varying unknown parameters. The use of the observer is demonstrated through illustrative examples and the performance is compared with extended Kalman filtering. Compared to previous results on nonlinear observers, the proposed observer is more computationally efficient, and guarantees state and parameter estimation for two very broad classes of nonlinear systems (Lipschitz and dissipative nonlinear systems) in the presence of input disturbances and sensor noise. In addition, the proposed observer does not require online computation of the observer gain.     

LMI approach to robust unknown input observer design for continuous systems with noise and uncertainties

The full order robust unknown input observers for continuous systems are presented. The observers are designed for both linear and nonlinear systems considering both noise and uncertainties. First, an unknown input observer is designed for linear systems. The observer is derived based on linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach. Then the observer design problem is extended for a class of nonlinear systems whose nonlinear function satisfies the Lipschitz condition. The main advantage of these observers over the existing works on UIO design is that these can handle both noise and uncertainties simultaneously. The performance of the observers is demonstrated by applying it to the robust state estimation of single link robot arm.     

Adaptive observers for unknown general nonlinear systems

Several neural network (NN) models have been applied successfully for modeling complex nonlinear dynamical systems. However, the stable adaptive state estimation of an unknown general nonlinear system from its input and output measurements is an unresolved problem. This paper addresses the nonlinear adaptive observer design for unknown general nonlinear systems. Only mild assumptions on the system are imposed: output equation is at least C(1) and existence and uniqueness of solution for the state equation. The proposed observer uses linearly parameterized neural networks (LPNNs) whose weights are adaptively adjusted, and Lyapunov theory is used in order to guarantee stability for state estimation and NN weight errors. No strictly positive real (SPR) assumption on the output error equation is required for the construction of the proposed observer.     

Nonlinear observer design for state and disturbance estimation

A new systematic framework for nonlinear observer design that allows the concurrent estimation of the process state variables together with key unknown process or sensor disturbances is proposed. The nonlinear observer design problem is addressed within a similar methodological framework as the one introduced in [N. Kazantzis, C. Kravaris, Nonlinear observer design using Lyapunov's auxiliary theorem, Systems Control Lett. 34 (1998) 241; A.J. Krener, M. Xiao, Nonlinear observer design in the Siegel domain, SIAM J. Control Optim. 41 (2002) 932.] for state estimation purposes only. From a mathematical standpoint, the problem under consideration is addressed through a system of first-order singular PDEs for which a rather general set of solvability conditions is derived. A nonlinear observer is then designed with a state-dependent gain that is computed from the solution of the system of singular PDEs. Under the aforementioned conditions, both state and disturbance estimation errors converge to zero with assignable rates. The convergence properties of the proposed nonlinear observer are tested through simulation studies in an illustrative example involving a biological reactor.     

Fault estimation observer design for a class of nonlinear multiagent systems in finite‐frequency domain

This paper focuses on the fault estimation observer design problem in the finite‐frequency domain for a class of Lipschitz nonlinear multiagent systems subject to system components or actuator fault. First, the relative output estimation error is defined based on the directed communication topology of multiagent systems, and an observer error system is obtained by connecting adaptive fault estimation observer and the state equation of the original system. Then, sufficient conditions for the existence of the fault estimation observer are obtained by using a generalized Kalman‐Yakubovich‐Popov lemma and properties of the matrix trace, which guarantee that the observer error system satisfies robustness performance in the finite‐frequency domain. Meanwhile, the pole assignment method is used to configure the poles of the observer error system in a certain area. Finally, the simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.