State‐constrained stabilization of beam‐balance systems

We present nonlinear control techniques to stabilize a beam‐balance system with state constraints. We consider two different actuator configurations: the first one is actuated by a cart moving on the beam, while in the second case, the actuation is by a single electromagnet. In the first case, the constrained stabilization problem is solved via an output feedback controller designed using feedback linearization, Luenberger‐like observer and linear matrix inequality based optimization. In the second case, a Lyapunov‐based controller is proposed that takes care of both the input and state constraints. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

H ∞ observer design for uncertain nonlinear discrete‐time systems with time‐delay: LMI optimization approach

We present a robust H _∞ observer for a class of nonlinear discrete‐time systems. The class under study includes an unknown time‐varying delay limited by upper and lower bounds, as well as time‐varying parametric uncertainties. We design a nonlinear H _∞ observer, by using the upper and lower bounds of the delay, that guarantees asymptotic stability of the estimation error dynamics and is also robust against time‐varying parametric uncertainties. The described problem is converted to a standard optimization problem, which can be solved in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Then, we expand the problem to a multi‐objective optimization problem in which the maximum admissible Lipschitz constant and the minimum disturbance attenuation level are the problem objectives. Finally, the proposed observer is illustrated with two examples. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

OBSERVER LINEARIZATION OF NONLINEAR SYSTEMS BY GENERALIZED TANSFORMATIONS

In this paper, we study the problem of observer linearization for single output dynamical systems in the presence of an output‐dependent time‐scaling transformation and a simultaneous output diffeomorphism. The approach, based on an exterior calculus approach, provides a constructive approach to the problem of equivalence of a locally observable nonlinear system to a linear observer form by means of an output dependent time‐scale transformation, an output diffeomorphism and a state‐space diffeomorphism. A generalization of existing results is obtained which allows the treatment of a larger class of locally observable nonlinear systems.     

Multi-objective constraint optimizing IOL control of distillation column with nonlinear observer

Performance of input–output linearizing (IOL) controllers suffers due to constraints on input and output variables. This problem is successfully tackled by augmenting IOL controllers with quadratic dynamic matrix controller (QDMC). However, this has created a constraint-mapping problem for coupled MIMO systems like distillation column. A multi-objective optimization problem needs to be solved to map the constraints on inputs. A suitable transformation technique is proposed to convert this multi-objective optimization problem to a single objective one. This makes the controller less computationally intensive and easy to implement. This controller (IOL-QDMC) along with nonlinear observer is implemented on a binary distillation column for dual composition control. Its performance is evaluated against a quadratic dynamic matrix controller (QDMC) and input–output linearization with PI controller (IOL-PI).     

Observer design for nonlinear discrete‐time systems: Immersion and dynamic observer error linearization techniques

This paper focuses on the observer design for nonlinear discrete‐time systems by means of nonlinear observer canonical form. At first, sufficient and necessary conditions are obtained for a class of autonomous nonlinear discrete‐time systems to be immersible into higher dimensional observer canonical form. Then a method called dynamic observer error linearization is developed. By introducing a dynamic auxiliary system, the augmented system is shown to be locally equivalent to the generalized observer form, whose nonlinear terms contain auxiliary states and output of the system. A constructive algorithm is also provided to obtain the state coordinate transformation. These results are an extension of their counterparts of nonlinear continuous‐time systems to nonlinear discrete‐time systems (Syst. Control Lett. 1986; 7 :133–142; SIAM. J. Control Optim. 2003; 41 :1756–1778; Int. J. Control 2004; 77 :723–734; Automatica 2006; 42 :321–328; IEEE Trans. Automat. Control 2007; 52 :83–88; IEEE Trans. Automat. Control 2004; 49 :1746–1750; Automatica 2006; 42 :2195–2200; IEEE Trans. Automat. Control 1996; 41 :598–603; Syst. Control Lett. 1997; 31 :115–128). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Nonsmooth feedback stabilizer for strict-feedback nonlinear systems that may not be linearizable at the origin

We present a continuous feedback stabilizer for nonlinear systems in the strict-feedback form, whose chained integrator part has the power of positive odd rational numbers. Since the power is not restricted to be larger than or equal to one, the linearization of the system at the origin may fail. Nevertheless, we show that the closed loop system is globally asymptotically stable (GAS) with the proposed continuous (but, possibly not differentiable) feedback. We formulate a condition that enables our design by characterizing the powers of the given system. The condition also shows that our result is an extension of Qian and Lin [Non-lipschitz continuous stabilizers for nonlinear systems with uncontrollable unstable linearization, Systems Control Lett. 42 (2001) 185–200] where the power of odd positive integers has been considered. New result on the global finite time stabilization problem is also presented.     

Observer‐Based H∞ Synchronization Control for Input and Output Time‐Delays Coronary Artery System

The paper investigates the observer‐based H_∞ synchronization for coronary artery time‐delay system under the state immeasurement and external uncertainty. A Luenberger‐like state observer, the observation system, is designed to realize the state reconstruction of the master system. Based on the Lyapunov stability theory and Lyapunov‐Krasovskii functional (LKF), the observer‐based synchronization control condition is derived for a coronary artery system subjected to the external uncertainty bounded by L₂ norm. By introducing the delay‐interval bounds and delay‐derivative limits in LKF, the time‐delays are handled by the delay‐range‐dependent strategy. The tighter upper bound of inequality can be obtained to reduce the conservation by employing further improved result of Jensen inequality and reciprocally convex approach. Furthermore, a decoupling technique is utilized to render the separate and simple controller and observer synthesis condition, which can be further solved by applying the cone complementary linearization approach respectively. Numerical simulations are listed to exhibit the effectiveness of the presented methodology.     

Constructive algorithm for dynamic observer error linearization via integrators: single output case

Dynamic observer error linearization which has been introduced recently is a new framework for observer design. Although this approach unifies several existing results on the problem and extends the class of systems that can be transformed into an observable linear system with an injection term of known signals, constructive algorithms to check the applicability are not available yet. In this paper, a constructive algorithm is proposed to solve the problem under some restrictions on the system structure and on the auxiliary dynamics introduced in the problem. The algorithm is constructive in the sense that the components of the transformation can be obtained step‐by‐step. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

NETWORK‐INDUCED DELAY‐DEPENDENT H∞ CONTROLLER DESIGN FOR A CLASS OF NETWORKED CONTROL SYSTEMS

This paper is concerned with the problem of robust H_∞ controller design for a class of uncertain networked control systems (NCSs). The network‐induced delay is of an interval‐like time‐varying type integer, which means that both lower and upper bounds for such a kind of delay are available. The parameter uncertainties are assumed to be normbounded and possibly time‐varying. Based on Lyapunov‐Krasovskii functional approach, a robust H_∞ controller for uncertain NCSs is designed by using a sum inequality which is first introduced and plays an important role in deriving the controller. A delay‐dependent condition for the existence of a state feedback controller, which ensures internal asymptotic stability and a prescribed H_∞ performance level of the closed‐loop system for all admissible uncertainties, is proposed in terms of a nonlinear matrix inequality which can be solved by a linearization algorithm, and no parameters need to be adjusted. A numerical example about a balancing problem of an inverted pendulum on a cart is given to show the effectiveness of the proposed design method.     

Exact and approximate feedback linearization without the linear controllability assumption

The feedback linearization problem of nonlinear control systems has been solved in the literature under the assumption that the nonlinear system is linearly controllable. In this paper, the assumption of linear controllability is removed; necessary and sufficient conditions are given through Lie orbital symmetries, thus giving a geometric characterization of the problem in the analytic case. Both the exact and the approximate linearization problems are considered in the analytic case.     

Observer-Based Nonlinear Control of A Torque Motor with Perturbation Estimation

This paper presents an observer-based nonlinear control method that was developed and implemented to provide accurate tracking control of a limited angle torque motor following a 50Hz reference waveform. The method is based on a robust nonlinear observer, which is used to estimate system states and perturbations and then employ input-output feedback linearization to compensate for the system nonlinearities and uncertainties. The estimation of system states and perturbations allows input-output linearization of the nonlinear system without an accurate mathematical model of nominal plant. The simulation results show that the observer-based nonlinear control method is superior in comparison with the conventional model-based state feedback linearizing controller.     

Linear and nonlinear state-space controllers for magnetic levitation

The problem of precisely controlling (within sensor resolution) the height of a steel ball above the ground by levitating it against the force of gravity using an electromagnet is considered. The state variables used to model the system are the ball's position below the magnet, the ball's speed and the current in the electromagnet. Two state-space controllers are compared in terms of their performance in controlling the ball's position. The first controller is based on feedback linearization where a nonlinear state-space transformation along with nonlinear state feedback is used to linearize the system exactly. A linear controller is then used on the resulting system to control the ball's position. As a direct measurement of ball speed is not available, a nonlinear observer with linear error dynamics is used to estimate the speed. The second controller is a standard linear state feedback controller whose design is based on a linear model found by perturbing the nonlinear system model about an operating point. A linear observer is used to estimate the ball's velocity. Experimental results are presented to compare the effectiveness of the two controllers in terms of their ability to respond to step inputs and to track sinusoidal reference trajectories.     

弓网接触力反馈线性化控制

通过扩展状态变量得到受电弓的非线性模型,利用非线性系统的微分几何理论,构造微分同胚变换和状态反馈表达式,得到了受电弓线性化模型,设计反馈控制律解决弓网接触力的跟踪问题,并证明了内状态的一致最终有界性,考虑弓头易受干扰问题,采用非线性干扰观测器补偿反馈控制律.研究对比表明,所提出的基于干扰观测器的反馈线性化控制策略能有效解决弓网接触力的跟踪问题,同时克服了反馈线性化控制依赖于精确模型的缺点,为一定工况下弓网最优接触力的跟踪控制提供可行方案.     

Transformation of a nonlinear system into an augmented linear system

This paper presents a method of formal linearization by augmenting state variables for nonlinear systems. Introducing a sequence of linearly independent functions and regarding each of them as a new state variable, the original nonlinear system is transformed into an augmented linear system. Based on this linearization, the paper also derives an observer and a suboptimal controller for nonlinear systems. The examples indicate that the linearization has excellent characteristics and greatly improves the performances.     

On application of the describing function method for optimization of feedback control systems

Two H_∞ optimization problems of a nonlinear tracking control system: the problem of a nonlinear controller and the problem of a nonlinear plant are considered in the paper. The describing function method is used for linearization of a feedback control system. Theorems, which enable one to replace the optimization of a nonlinear system by the optimization of an approximate linear system are proven in the paper. Methods of H_∞ optimization are used to find the structure of an optimal controller of the approximate system. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Semi-global robust output regulation of minimum-phase nonlinear systems based on high-gain nonlinear internal model

We consider the assumption of existence of the general nonlinear internal model that is introduced in the design of robust output regulators for a class of minimum-phase nonlinear systems with rth degree (r ≥ 2). The robust output regulation problem can be converted into a robust stabilisation problem of an augmented system consisting of the given plant and a high-gain nonlinear internal model, perfectly reproducing the bounded including not only periodic but also nonperiodic exogenous signal from a nonlinear system, which satisfies some general immersion assumption. The state feedback controller is designed to guarantee the asymptotic convergence of system errors to zero manifold. Furthermore, the proposed scheme makes use of output feedback dynamic controller that only processes information from the regulated output error by using high-gain observer to robustly estimate the derivatives of the regulated output error. The stabilisation analysis of the resulting closed-loop systems leads to regional as well as semi-global robust output regulation achieved for some appointed initial condition in the state space, for all possible values of the uncertain parameter vector and the exogenous signal, ranging over an arbitrary compact set.     

Singular PDEs and the single-step formulation of feedback linearization with pole placement

The present work proposes a new formulation and approach to the problem of feedback linearization with pole placement. The problem under consideration is not treated within the context of geometric exact feedback linearization, where restrictive conditions arise from a two-step design method (transformation of the original nonlinear system into a linear one in controllable canonical form with an external reference input, and the subsequent employment of linear pole-placement techniques). In the present work, the problem is formulated in a single step, using tools from singular PDE theory. In particular, the mathematical formulation of the problem is realized via a system of first-order quasi-linear singular PDEs and a rather general set of necessary and sufficient conditions for solvability is derived, by using Lyapunov's auxiliary theorem. The solution to the system of singular PDEs is locally analytic and this enables the development of a series solution method, that is easily programmable with the aid of a symbolic software package. Under a simultaneous implementation of a nonlinear coordinate transformation and a nonlinear state feedback law computed through the solution of the system of singular PDEs, both feedback linearization and pole-placement design objectives may be accomplished in a single step, effectively overcoming the restrictions of the other approaches by bypassing the intermediate step of transforming the original system into a linear controllable one with an external reference input.     

Control of multi-axis robots with elastic joints via cascade compensation using the method of exact linearization

This paper presents a new method for the position control of industrial robots with elastic joints and where the dynamic of each actuator is described by a simplified model. The inverse dynamic of the system is computed and used to compensate the nonlinear terms and decouple the system through a coordinate transformation and nonlinear feedback (exact linearization). To simplify the algorithm for the inverse dynamic and hence reduce its computation, each actuator-link pair of the robot is considered as a 2-input 2-output nonlinear system, a link subsystem and an actuator subsystem. A cascade compensation using the exact linearization is then applied to each subsystem, thereby avoiding the computation of the first and second partial derivatives of the inverse of the inertia matrix and the vector of the coriolis and centrifugal forces. This gives a formalism that is relatively simple and efficient for symbolical computation, which is very important for the maintenance of accuracy. Similarly, a cascade linear controller is constructed for each subsystem of the resulting linear decoupled 2-input 2-output system. The basis vector functions for the coordinate transformation are so chosen that only one state of the link subsystem can theoretically not be measured directly or indirectly. To estimate this state, an observer with linear error dynamic is constructed. The applicability of this observer to this general case is also proved. Simulation results using the first three links of Puma 560 are finally presented.