Event‐triggered optimal tracking control of nonlinear systems

We propose a novel event‐triggered optimal tracking control algorithm for nonlinear systems with an infinite horizon discounted cost. The problem is formulated by appropriately augmenting the system and the reference dynamics and then using ideas from reinforcement learning to provide a solution. Namely, a critic network is used to estimate the optimal cost while an actor network is used to approximate the optimal event‐triggered controller. Because the actor network updates only when an event occurs, we shall use a zero‐order hold along with appropriate tuning laws to encounter for this behavior. Because we have dynamics that evolve in continuous and discrete time, we write the closed‐loop system as an impulsive model and prove asymptotic stability of the equilibrium point and Zeno behavior exclusion. Simulation results of a helicopter, a one‐link rigid robot under gravitation field, and a controlled Van‐der‐Pol oscillator are presented to show the efficacy of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Neural critic learning toward robust dynamic stabilization

In this article, we focus on developing a neural‐network‐based critic learning strategy toward robust dynamic stabilization for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems. A type of general uncertainties involved both in the internal dynamics and in the input matrix is considered. An auxiliary system with actual action and auxiliary signal is constructed after dynamics decomposition and combination for the original plant. The reasonability of the control problem transformation from robust stabilization to optimal feedback design is also provided theoretically. After that, the adaptive critic learning method based on a neural network is established to derive the approximate optimal solution of the transformed control problem. The critic weight can be initialized to a zero vector, which apparently facilitates the learning process. Numerical simulation is finally presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the critic learning approach for neural robust stabilization.     

Online adaptive algorithm for optimal control with integral reinforcement learning

In this paper, we introduce an online algorithm that uses integral reinforcement knowledge for learning the continuous‐time optimal control solution for nonlinear systems with infinite horizon costs and partial knowledge of the system dynamics. This algorithm is a data‐based approach to the solution of the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation, and it does not require explicit knowledge on the system's drift dynamics. A novel adaptive control algorithm is given that is based on policy iteration and implemented using an actor/critic structure having two adaptive approximator structures. Both actor and critic approximation networks are adapted simultaneously. A persistence of excitation condition is required to guarantee convergence of the critic to the actual optimal value function. Novel adaptive control tuning algorithms are given for both critic and actor networks, with extra terms in the actor tuning law being required to guarantee closed loop dynamical stability. The approximate convergence to the optimal controller is proven, and stability of the system is also guaranteed. Simulation examples support the theoretical result. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Q‐learning for continuous‐time graphical games on large networks with completely unknown linear system dynamics

In this paper, we consider the problem of leader synchronization in systems with interacting agents in large networks while simultaneously satisfying energy‐related user‐defined distributed optimization criteria. But modeling in large networks is very difficult, and for that reason, we derive a model‐free formulation that is based on a separate distributed Q‐learning function for every agent. Every Q‐function is a parametrization of each agent's control, of the neighborhood controls, and of the neighborhood tracking error. It is also evident that none of the agents has any information on where the leader is connected to and from where she spreads the desired information. The proposed algorithm uses an integral reinforcement learning approach with a separate distributed actor/critic network for each agent: a critic approximator to approximate each value function and an actor approximator to approximate each optimal control law. The derived tuning laws for each actor and critic approximators are designed appropriately by using gradient descent laws. We provide rigorous stability and convergence proofs to show that the closed‐loop system has an asymptotically stable equilibrium point and that the control policies form a graphical Nash equilibrium. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method on a network consisting of 10 agents. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Data‐driven optimal event‐triggered consensus control for unknown nonlinear multiagent systems with control constraints

This paper considers optimal consensus control problem for unknown nonlinear multiagent systems (MASs) subjected to control constraints by utilizing event‐triggered adaptive dynamic programming (ETADP) technique. To deal with the control constraints, we introduce nonquadratic energy consumption functions into performance indices and formulate the Hamilton‐Jacobi‐Bellman (HJB) equations. Then, based on the Bellman's optimality principle, constrained optimal consensus control policies are designed from the HJB equations. In order to implement the ETADP algorithm, the critic networks and action networks are developed to approximate the value functions and consensus control policies respectively based on the measurable system data. Under the event‐triggered control framework, the weights of the critic networks and action networks are only updated at the triggering instants which are decided by the designed adaptive triggered conditions. The Lyapunov method is used to prove that the local neighbor consensus errors and the weight estimation errors of the critic networks and action networks are ultimately bounded. Finally, a numerical example is provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed ETADP method.     

Global robust practical output regulation for nonlinear systems in output feedback form by output‐based event‐triggered control

In this paper, we study the event‐triggered global robust practical output regulation problem for a class of nonlinear systems in output feedback form with any relative degree. Our approach consists of the following three steps. First, we design an internal model and an observer to form the so‐called extended augmented system. Second, we convert the original problem into the event‐triggered global robust practical stabilization problem of the extended augmented system. Third, we design an output‐based event‐triggered control law and a Zeno‐free output‐based event‐triggered mechanism to solve the stabilization problem, which, in turn, leads to the solvability of the original problem. Finally, we apply our result to the controlled hyperchaotic Lorenz systems.     

Multi-player non-zero-sum games: Online adaptive learning solution of coupled Hamilton–Jacobi equations

In this paper we present an online adaptive control algorithm based on policy iteration reinforcement learning techniques to solve the continuous-time (CT) multi player non-zero-sum (NZS) game with infinite horizon for linear and nonlinear systems. NZS games allow for players to have a cooperative team component and an individual selfish component of strategy. The adaptive algorithm learns online the solution of coupled Riccati equations and coupled Hamilton–Jacobi equations for linear and nonlinear systems respectively. This adaptive control method finds in real-time approximations of the optimal value and the NZS Nash-equilibrium, while also guaranteeing closed-loop stability. The optimal-adaptive algorithm is implemented as a separate actor/critic parametric network approximator structure for every player, and involves simultaneous continuous-time adaptation of the actor/critic networks. A persistence of excitation condition is shown to guarantee convergence of every critic to the actual optimal value function for that player. A detailed mathematical analysis is done for 2-player NZS games. Novel tuning algorithms are given for the actor/critic networks. The convergence to the Nash equilibrium is proven and stability of the system is also guaranteed. This provides optimal adaptive control solutions for both non-zero-sum games and their special case, the zero-sum games. Simulation examples show the effectiveness of the new algorithm.     

Event-triggered-based integral reinforcement learning output feedback optimal control for partially unknown constrained-input nonlinear systems

In this paper, an adaptive output feedback event-triggered optimal control algorithm is proposed for partially unknown constrained-input continuous-time nonlinear systems. First, a neural network observer is constructed to estimate unmeasurable state. Next, an event-triggered condition is established, and only when the event-triggered condition is violated will the event be triggered and the state be sampled. Then, an event-triggered-based synchronous integral reinforcement learning (ET-SIRL) control algorithm with critic-actor neural networks (NNs) architecture is proposed to solve the event-triggered Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation under the established event-triggered condition. The critic and actor NNs are used to approximate cost function and optimal event-triggered optimal control law, respectively. Meanwhile, the event-triggered-based closed-loop system state and all the neural network weight estimation errors are uniformly ultimately bounded proved by Lyapunov stability theory, and there is no Zeno behavior. Finally, two numerical examples are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed ET-SIRL control algorithm.     

Robust adaptive critic control of nonlinear systems using fuzzy basis function networks: An LMI approach

This paper proposes an adaptive critic tracking control design for a class of nonlinear systems using fuzzy basis function networks (FBFNs). The key component of the adaptive critic controller is the FBFN, which implements an associative learning network (ALN) to approximate unknown nonlinear system functions, and an adaptive critic network (ACN) to generate the internal reinforcement learning signal to tune the ALN. Another important component, the reinforcement learning signal generator, requires the solution of a linear matrix inequality (LMI), which should also be satisfied to ensure stability. Furthermore, the robust control technique can easily reject the effects of the approximation errors of the FBFN and external disturbances. Unlike traditional adaptive critic controllers that learn from trial-and-error interactions, the proposed on-line tuning algorithm for ALN and ACN is derived from Lyapunov theory, thereby significantly shortening the learning time. Simulation results of a cart-pole system demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed FBFN-based adaptive critic controller.     

Finite-time optimal tracking control for a class of nonlinear systems with prescribed performance

In this paper, a finite-time optimal tracking control scheme based on integral reinforcement learning is developed for partially unknown nonlinear systems. In order to realize the prescribed performance, the original system is transformed into an equivalent unconstrained system so as to a composite system is constructed. Subsequently, a modified nonlinear quadratic performance function containing the auxiliary tracking error is designed. Furthermore, the technique of experience replay is used to update the critic neural network, which eliminates the persistent of excitation condition in traditional optimal methods. By combining the prescribed performance control with the finite-time optimization control technique, the tracking error is driven to a desired performance in finite time. Consequently, it has been shown that all signals in the partially unknown nonlinear system are semiglobally practical finite-time stable by stability analysis. Finally, the provided comparative simulation results verify the effectiveness of the developed control scheme.     

Event-triggered optimal tracking control of multiplayer unknown nonlinear systems via adaptive critic designs

In this article, the event-triggered optimal tracking control problem for multiplayer unknown nonlinear systems is investigated by using adaptive critic designs. By constructing a neural network (NN)-based observer with input–output data, the system dynamics of multiplayer unknown nonlinear systems is obtained. Subsequently, the optimal tracking control problem is converted to an optimal regulation problem by establishing a tracking error system. Then, the optimal tracking control policy for each player is derived by solving coupled event-triggered Hamilton-Jacobi (HJ) equation via a critic NN. Meanwhile, a novel weight updating rule is designed by adopting concurrent learning method to relax the persistence of excitation (PE) condition. Moreover, an event-triggering condition is designed by using Lyapunov's direct method to guarantee the uniform ultimate boundedness (UUB) of the closed-loop multiplayer systems. Finally, the effectiveness of the developed method is verified by two different multiplayer nonlinear systems.     

Event‐Triggered Iterative Learning Control for Multi‐Agent Systems with Quantization

The emergence of networked control systems urges the digital control design to integrate communication constraints efficiently. In order to accommodate this requirement, this paper investigates the joint design of tracking problem for multi‐agent system (MAS) in the presence of resource‐limited communication channel and quantization. An event‐triggered robust learning control with quantization is firstly proposed and employed for MAS in this paper. The new event‐triggered distributed robust learning control system with the introduction of logarithmic quantization guarantees the asymptotic tracking property on the finite interval. Convergence analysis is given based on the Lyapunov direct method. Finally, numerical simulations are given to illustrate the efficacy of the event‐triggered approach compared with time‐triggered controllers.     

Data-based approximate policy iteration for affine nonlinear continuous-time optimal control design

This paper addresses the model-free nonlinear optimal control problem based on data by introducing the reinforcement learning (RL) technique. It is known that the nonlinear optimal control problem relies on the solution of the Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman (HJB) equation, which is a nonlinear partial differential equation that is generally impossible to be solved analytically. Even worse, most practical systems are too complicated to establish an accurate mathematical model. To overcome these difficulties, we propose a data-based approximate policy iteration (API) method by using real system data rather than a system model. Firstly, a model-free policy iteration algorithm is derived and its convergence is proved. The implementation of the algorithm is based on the actor–critic structure, where actor and critic neural networks (NNs) are employed to approximate the control policy and cost function, respectively. To update the weights of actor and critic NNs, a least-square approach is developed based on the method of weighted residuals. The data-based API is an off-policy RL method, where the “exploration” is improved by arbitrarily sampling data on the state and input domain. Finally, we test the data-based API control design method on a simple nonlinear system, and further apply it to a rotational/translational actuator system. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Robust practical output regulation for a class of uncertain linear minimum‐phase systems by output‐based event‐triggered control

In this paper, we consider the robust practical output regulation problem for a class of SISO uncertain linear minimum‐phase systems subject to external disturbances by an output‐based event‐triggered control law, where the reference inputs and the external disturbances are both generated by a so‐called exosystem with known dynamics. Our approach consists of two steps. First, on the basis of the internal model principle, we convert the problem into the robust practical stabilization problem of a well‐defined augmented system. Second, we design an output‐based event‐triggered mechanism and an output‐based event‐triggered control law to solve the stabilization problem, which in turn leads to the solvability of the original problem. What is more, we show that the event‐triggered mechanism prevents the Zeno behavior from happening. A numerical example is given to illustrate the design. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Online solution of nonlinear two‐player zero‐sum games using synchronous policy iteration

The two‐player zero‐sum (ZS) game problem provides the solution to the bounded L₂‐gain problem and so is important for robust control. However, its solution depends on solving a design Hamilton–Jacobi–Isaacs (HJI) equation, which is generally intractable for nonlinear systems. In this paper, we present an online adaptive learning algorithm based on policy iteration to solve the continuous‐time two‐player ZS game with infinite horizon cost for nonlinear systems with known dynamics. That is, the algorithm learns online in real time an approximate local solution to the game HJI equation. This method finds, in real time, suitable approximations of the optimal value and the saddle point feedback control policy and disturbance policy, while also guaranteeing closed‐loop stability. The adaptive algorithm is implemented as an actor/critic/disturbance structure that involves simultaneous continuous‐time adaptation of critic, actor, and disturbance neural networks. We call this online gaming algorithm ‘synchronous’ ZS game policy iteration. A persistence of excitation condition is shown to guarantee convergence of the critic to the actual optimal value function. Novel tuning algorithms are given for critic, actor, and disturbance networks. The convergence to the optimal saddle point solution is proven, and stability of the system is also guaranteed. Simulation examples show the effectiveness of the new algorithm in solving the HJI equation online for a linear system and a complex nonlinear system. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于单网络评判学习的非线性系统鲁棒跟踪控制

针对一类具有不确定性的连续时间非线性系统,提出一种基于单网络评判学习的鲁棒跟踪控制方法.首先建立由跟踪误差与参考轨迹构成的增广系统,将鲁棒跟踪控制问题转换为镇定设计问题.通过采用带有折扣因子和特殊效用项的代价函数,将鲁棒镇定问题转换为最优控制问题.然后,通过构建评判神经网络对最优代价函数进行估计,进而得到最优跟踪控制算法.为了放松该算法的初始容许控制条件,在评判神经网络权值更新律中增加一个额外项.利用Lyapunov方法证明闭环系统的稳定性及鲁棒跟踪性能.最后,通过仿真结果验证该方法的有效性和适用性.     

Periodic event‐triggered control for distributed networked multiagents with asynchronous communication: A predictive control approach

This paper investigates the periodic event‐triggered control problem for distributed networked multiagent systems with interconnected nonlinear dynamics subject to asynchronous communication. A method of state trajectory estimation for the interconnected neighboring agents over each prediction horizon with guaranteed error bounds is addressed to handle the asynchronous communication. Based on it, a distributed robust model predictive control (MPC) is proposed with a distributed periodic event‐triggered scheme for each agent. According to this algorithm, each subsystem generates presumed state trajectories for all its upstream neighbors and computes its own control locally. By checking the designed triggering condition periodically, the optimization problem of MPC will be implemented and solved when the local error of the subsystem exceeds a specified threshold. Then, the optimized control input will be determined and applied until the next time instant when the triggering condition is invoked. Moreover, sufficient condition for ensuring feasibility of the designed algorithm is conducted, along with the analysis of asymptotic stabilization of the closed‐loop system. The illustrative example for a set of coupled Van der Pol oscillators is reported to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Event-Triggered Optimal Adaptive Control Algorithm for Continuous-Time Nonlinear Systems

This paper proposes a novel optimal adaptive eventtriggered control algorithm for nonlinear continuous-time systems. The goal is to reduce the controller updates, by sampling the state only when an event is triggered to maintain stability and optimality. The online algorithm is implemented based on an actor/critic neural network structure. A critic neural network is used to approximate the cost and an actor neural network is used to approximate the optimal event-triggered controller. Since in the algorithm proposed there are dynamics that exhibit continuous evolutions described by ordinary differential equations and instantaneous jumps or impulses, we will use an impulsive system approach. A Lyapunov stability proof ensures that the closed-loop system is asymptotically stable. Finally, we illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution compared to a timetriggered controller.      

Event‐triggered H∞ control for a class of nonlinear networked control systems using novel integral inequalities

This paper is concerned with event‐triggered H_∞ control for a class of nonlinear networked control systems. An event‐triggered transmission scheme is introduced to select ‘necessary’ sampled data packets to be transmitted so that precious communication resources can be saved significantly. Under the event‐triggered transmission scheme, the closed‐loop system is modeled as a system with an interval time‐varying delay. Two novel integral inequalities are established to provide a tight estimation on the derivative of the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional. As a result, a novel sufficient condition on the existence of desired event‐triggered H_∞ controllers is derived in terms of solutions to a set of linear matrix inequalities. No parameters need to be tuned when controllers are designed. The proposed method is then applied to the robust stabilization of a class of nonlinear networked control systems, and some linear matrix inequality‐based conditions are formulated to design both event‐triggered and time‐triggered H_∞ controllers. Finally, two numerical examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于学习的鲁棒自适应评判控制研究进展

在作为人工智能核心技术的机器学习领域,强化学习是一类强调机器在与环境的交互过程中进行学习的方法,其重要分支之一的自适应评判技术与动态规划及最优化设计密切相关.为了有效地求解复杂动态系统的优化控制问题,结合自适应评判,动态规划和人工神经网络产生的自适应动态规划方法已经得到广泛关注,特别在考虑不确定因素和外部扰动时的鲁棒自适应评判控制方面取得了很大进展,并被认为是构建智能学习系统和实现真正类脑智能的必要途径.本文对基于智能学习的鲁棒自适应评判控制理论与主要方法进行梳理,包括自学习鲁棒镇定,自适应轨迹跟踪,事件驱动鲁棒控制,以及自适应H_∞控制设计等,并涵盖关于自适应评判系统稳定性、收敛性、最优性以及鲁棒性的分析.同时,结合人工智能、大数据、深度学习和知识自动化等新技术,也对鲁棒自适应评判控制的发展前景进行探讨.