Design of robust gain-scheduled PI controllers for nonlinear processes

Gain-scheduling has proven to be a successful design methodology in many engineering applications. However, in the absence of a sound theoretical analysis, these designs come with no guarantees of robust stability, performance or even nominal stability of the overall gain-scheduled deign.This paper presents such an analysis for one type of nonlinear gain-scheduled control system based on the process input for nonlinear chemical processes. A methodology is also proposed for the design and optimization of the robust gain-scheduled PI controller. Conditions which guarantee robust stability and performance are formulated as a finite set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) and hence, the resulting problem is numerically tractable. Issues of modeling error and input-saturation are explicitly incorporated into the analysis. A simulation study of a nonlinear continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) process indicates that this approach can produce efficient sub-optimal robust gain-scheduled controllers.     

On the worst-case disturbance of minimax optimal control

We consider a minimax optimal control problem for uncertain stochastic systems. The uncertainty in the underlying stochastic system is formulated in terms of probability measure perturbations satisfying a relative entropy constraint. By characterizing the worst-case measure for a related stochastic minimax game, it is shown that the worst-case uncertain system can be represented in the form of a parametric perturbation of the nominal system. A numerical example is presented to illustrate theoretical results developed in this paper.     

一类不确定系统的最优极小极大鲁棒控制

讨论一类不确定系统的极小极大鲁棒动态输出反馈控制问题.给出不确定系统的极小极大鲁棒控制的定义.利用线性矩阵不等式(LMI)处理方法和Lyapunov稳定性理论,得到了在干扰和不确定性最大的情形下极小极大输出反馈控制器存在的充分条件.引入凸优化技术, 求得最优极小极大控制器.它不仅保证闭环系统渐近稳定, 且使得闭环系统性能指标的上界最小.仿真算例说明了所设计的控制器具有较强的干扰抑制功能.     

Performance improvement of robust controllers for polynomially uncertain systems

This paper is concerned with the high-performance robust control of discrete-time linear time-invariant (LTI) systems with semi-algebraic uncertainty regions. It is assumed that a robustly stabilizing static controller is given whose gain depends polynomially on the uncertain variables. The problem of tuning this parameter-dependent gain with respect to a prescribed quadratic cost function is formulated as a sum-of-squares (SOS) optimization. This method leads to a near-optimal controller whose performance is better than that of the initial controller. It is shown that the results derived in the present work encompass the ones obtained in a recent paper. The efficacy of the results is elucidated by an example.     

Guaranteed cost LQG control for uncertain systems with a normalized coprime factor uncertainty structure

The paper extends the robust minimax LQG control design methodology to stochastic uncertain systems with a general uncertainty structure, which includes normalized coprime factor uncertainty, passive uncertainty and sector norm-bounded uncertainty as special cases. The derivation of the result uses a special parameter-dependent Girsanov measure transformation. The efficacy of the proposed methodology is illustrated using the problem of frequency locking of an optical cavity which occurs in the area of experimental quantum optics.     

Design and experimental evaluation of robust controllers for a two-wheeled robot

The paper presents the design and experimental evaluation of two alternative μ-controllers for robust vertical stabilisation of a two-wheeled self-balancing robot. The controllers design is based on models derived by identification from closed-loop experimental data. In the first design, a signal-based uncertainty representation obtained directly from the identification procedure is used, which leads to a controller of order 29. In the second design the signal uncertainty is approximated by an input multiplicative uncertainty, which leads to a controller of order 50, subsequently reduced to 30. The performance of the two μ-controllers is compared with the performance of a conventional linear quadratic controller with 17th-order Kalman filter. A proportional-integral controller of the rotational motion around the vertical axis is implemented as well. The control code is generated using Simulink® controller models and is embedded in a digital signal processor. Results from the simulation of the closed-loop system as well as experimental results obtained during the real-time implementation of the designed controllers are given. The theoretical investigation and experimental results confirm that the closed-loop system achieves robust performance in respect to the uncertainties related to the identified robot model.     

Global robust stabilization of feedforward systems with uncertainties

This paper studies the global robust stabilization problem for a class of feedforward systems that is subject to both dynamic and time-varying static uncertainties. A small gain theorem-based bottom-up recursive design is developed for constructing a nested saturation control law. At each recursion, two versions of small gain theorem with restrictions are employed to establish the global attractiveness and local stability of the closed-loop system at the equilibrium point, respectively.     

A synthesis framework for robust gain-scheduling controllers

We present a general framework for the systematic synthesis of robust gain-scheduling controllers by convex optimization techniques and for uncertain dynamical systems described by standard linear fractional representations. We distinguish between linear time-varying parameters, which are assumed to be available online as scheduling parameters for the controller, and genuine uncertainties, not necessarily time-varying, parametric or linear, that are not available online. Under the rough hypothesis that the control channel is not affected by the unmeasurable uncertainties and that the properties of the uncertainties and scheduling variables are captured by suitable families of integral quadratic constraints, this paper reveals how controller synthesis can be turned into a genuine semi-definite program. The design framework is shown to encompass a rich class of concrete scenarios.     

Design of robust model-based controllers via parametric programming

In this paper a method is presented for deriving the explicit robust model-based optimal control law for constrained linear dynamic systems. The controller is derived off-line via parametric programming before any actual process implementation takes place. The proposed control scheme guarantees feasible operation in the presence of bounded input uncertainties by (i) explicitly incorporating in the controller design stage a set of feasibility constraints and (ii) minimizing the nominal performance, or the expectation of the performance over the uncertainty space. An extension of the method to problems involving target point tracking in the presence of persistent disturbances is also discussed. The general concept is illustrated with two examples.     

折叠翼飞行器鲁棒飞行控制系统设计方法

为解决折叠翼飞行器在机载发射段主升力翼面/立尾展开前后气动特性变化较大,以及对飞行控制律鲁棒性要求较高的问题,基于飞行器六自由度非线性动态模型,应用随机鲁棒分析与设计方法(SRAD),对机载发射段折叠翼飞行器的翼面/立尾展开过程,设计了鲁棒飞行控制律,并通过对风干扰环境下的六自由度非线性弹道仿真,验证了翼面/立尾展开段鲁棒飞行控制律的有效性.     

Comparisons among robust stability criteria for linear systems with affine parameter uncertainties

This paper is concerned with the problem of comparisons among robust stability criteria for a class of uncertain linear systems, where the system state matrices considered are affinely dependent on the uncertain parameters. At first, a robust stability criterion for the class of systems to be affinely quadratically stable (AQS) is derived based on the vertex separator approach, where affine parameter-dependent Lyapunov functions are exploited to prove stability. Then comparison results between the robust stability criterion and the existing tests for AQS are given in terms of degree of conservatism. A numerical example is given to illustrate the results.     

Fuzzy adaptive backstepping robust control for SISO nonlinear system with dynamic uncertainties

In this paper, a fuzzy adaptive backstepping design procedure is proposed for a class of nonlinear systems with three types of uncertainties: (i) nonlinear uncertainties; (ii) unmodeled dynamics and (iii) dynamic disturbances. The fuzzy logic systems are used to approximate the nonlinear uncertainties, nonlinear damping terms are used to counteract the dynamic disturbances and fuzzy approximation errors, and a dynamic signal is introduced to dominate the unmodeled dynamics. The derived fuzzy adaptive control approach guarantees the global boundedness property for all the signals and states, and at the same time, steers the output to a small neighborhood of the origin. Simulation studies are included to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Design of robust PID controllers using decoupling at singular frequencies

Algorithms for computation of the total set of PID stabilizers based on decoupling of PID parameter space at singular frequencies are presented. Nonconvex stability regions are built up by convex polygonal slices. Two problems are thereby discriminated: (A) assertion of k_P-intervals with stable polygons and (B) automatic detection of stable polygons for a fixed k_P. This paper includes solutions to both problems. The methods apply also for robust PID stabilization of a multi-model uncertainty.     

Interval-model-based global optimization framework for robust stability and performance of PID controllers

PID controller structure is regarded as a standard in the control-engineering community and is supported by a vast range of automation hardware. Therefore, PID controllers are widely used in industrial practice. However, the problem of tuning the controller parameters has to be tackled by the control engineer and this is often not dealt with in an optimal way, resulting in poor control performance and even compromised safety. The paper proposes a framework, which involves using an interval model for describing the uncertain or variable dynamics of the process. The framework employs a particle swarm optimization algorithm for obtaining the best performing PID controller with regard to several possible criteria, but at the same time taking into account the complementary sensitivity function constraints, which ensure robustness within the bounds of the uncertain parameters’ intervals. Hence, the presented approach enables a simple, computationally tractable and efficient constrained optimization solution for tuning the parameters of the controller, while considering the eventual gain, pole, zero and time-delay uncertainties defined using an interval model of the controlled process. The results provide good control performance while assuring stability within the prescribed uncertainty constraints. Furthermore, the controller performance is adequate only if the relative system perturbations are considered, as proposed in the paper. The proposed approach has been tested on various examples. The results suggest that it is a useful framework for obtaining adequate controller parameters, which ensure robust stability and favorable control performance of the closed-loop, even when considerable process uncertainties are expected.     

Finite Horizon Minimax Optimal Control of Stochastic Partially Observed Time Varying Uncertain Systems

We consider a linear-quadratic problem of minimax optimal control for stochastic uncertain control systems with output measurement. The uncertainty in the system satisfies a stochastic integral quadratic constraint. To convert the constrained optimization problem into an unconstrained one, a special S-procedure is applied. The resulting unconstrained game-type optimization problem is then converted into a risk-sensitive stochastic control problem with an exponential-of-integral cost functional. This is achieved via a certain duality relation between stochastic dynamic games and risk-sensitive stochastic control. The solution of the risk-sensitive stochastic control problem in terms of a pair of differential matrix Riccati equations is then used to establish a minimax optimal control law for the original uncertain system with uncertainty subject to the stochastic integral quadratic constraint. Date received: May 13, 1997. Date revised: March 18, 1998.     

Robust sliding mode control of general time-varying delay stochastic systems with structural uncertainties

This paper presents a new robust sliding mode control （SMC） method with well-developed theoretical proof for general uncertain time-varying delay stochastic systems with structural uncertainties and the Brownian noise （Wiener process）. The key features of the proposed method are to apply singular value decomposition （SVD） to all structural uncertainties and to introduce adjustable parameters for control design along with the SMC method. It leads to a less-conservative condition for robust stability and a new robust controller for the general uncertain stochastic systems via linear matrix inequality （LMI） forms. The system states are able to reach the SMC switching surface as guaranteed in probability 1. Furthermore, it is theoretically proved that the proposed method with the SVD and adjustable parameters is less conservatism than the method without the SVD. The paper is mainly to provide all strict theoretical proofs for the method and results.     

A performance comparison of robust adaptive controllers: linear systems

We consider robust adaptive control designs for relative degree one, minimum phase linear systems of known high frequency gain. The designs are based on the dead-zone and projection modifications, and we compare their performance w.r.t. a worst case transient cost functional with a penalty on the ^∞ norm of the output, control and control derivative. We establish two qualitative results. If a bound on the ^∞ norm of the disturbance is known and the known a priori bound on the uncertainty level is sufficiently conservative, then it is shown that a dead-zone controller outperforms a projection controller. The complementary result shows that the projection controller is superior to the dead-zone controller when the a priori information on the disturbance level is sufficiently conservative.