Nonlinearities enhance parameter convergence in output-feedbacksystems

While the parameter convergence properties of standard adaptive algorithms for linear systems are well established, there are no similar results on the parameter convergence of adaptive controllers for nonlinear systems which have gained popularity in recent years. In this paper we focus on a recently developed class of adaptive schemes for output-feedback nonlinear systems and show that parameter convergence is guaranteed if and only if an appropriately defined signal vector, which does not depend on closed-loop signals, is persistently exciting. Then we develop an analytic procedure which allows us, given a specific nonlinear system and a specific reference signal, to determine a priori whether or not this vector is persistently exciting (PE) and, hence, whether or not the parameter estimates will converge. In the process we show that the presence of nonlinearities usually reduces the sufficient richness (SR) requirements on the reference signals and hence enhances parameter convergence. This is the first result on the relationship between PE and SR for adaptive nonlinear control systems     

基于随机牛顿算法的离散系统自适应参数估计

针对一类离散系统,提出一种基于随机牛顿算法的自适应参数估计新框架,相较于已有的参数估计算法,所提出方法仅要求系统满足有限激励条件,而非传统的持续激励条件.所提出算法的核心思想在于通过对原始代价函数的修正,在使用当前时刻误差信息的基础上融入历史误差信息,进而通过对历史信息和历史激励的复用使得持续激励条件转化为有限激励条件;然后,为了解决传统算法收敛速度慢的问题并避免潜在的病态问题,采用随机牛顿算法推导出参数自适应律,并引入含有历史信息的海森矩阵作为时变学习增益,保证参数估计误差指数收敛;最后,基于李雅普诺夫稳定性理论给出不同激励条件下所提出算法的收敛性结论和证明,并通过对比仿真验证所提出算法的有效性和优越性.     

Composite Adaptive Control of Uncertain Euler‐Lagrange Systems with Parameter Convergence without PE Condition

This work proposes a novel composite adaptive controller for uncertain Euler‐Lagrange (EL) systems. The composite adaptive law is strategically designed to be proportional to the parameter estimation error in addition to the tracking error, leading to parameter convergence. Unlike conventional adaptive control laws which require the regressor function to be persistently exciting (PE) for parameter convergence, the proposed method guarantees parameter convergence from a milder initially exciting (IE) condition on the regressor. The IE condition is significantly less restrictive than PE, since it does not rely on the future values of the signal and that it can be verified online. The proposed adaptive controller ensures exponential convergence of the tracking and the parameter estimation errors to zero once the sufficient IE condition is met. Simulation results corroborate the efficacy of the proposed technique and also establishes it's robustness property in the presence of unmodeled bounded disturbance.     

Stability and approximator convergence in nonparametric nonlinearadaptive control

This paper investigates nonparametric nonlinear adaptive control under passive learning conditions. Passive learning refers to the normal situation in control applications in which the system inputs cannot be selected freely by the learning system. This article also analyzes the stability of both the system state and approximator parameter estimates. Stability results are presented for both parametric (known model structure with unknown parameters) and nonparametric (unknown model structure resulting in epsilon-approximation error) adaptive control applications. Upper bounds on the tracking error are developed. The article also analyzes the persistence (PE) of excitation conditions required for parameter convergence. In addition, to a general PE analysis, the article presents a specific analysis pertinent to approximators that are composed of basis elements with local support. In particular, the analysis shows that as long as a reduced dimension subvector of the regressor vector is PE, then a specialized form of exponential convergence will be achieved. This condition is critical, since the general PE conditions are not practical in most control applications. In addition to the PE results, this article explicitly defines the regions over which the approximator converges when locally supported basis elements are used. The results are demonstrated throughout via examples.     

Adaptive parameter identification of linear SISO systems with unknown time-delay

An adaptive online parameter identification is proposed for linear single-input-single-output (SISO) time-delay systems to simultaneously estimate the unknown time-delay and other parameters. After representing the system as a parameterized form, a novel adaptive law is developed, which is driven by appropriate parameter estimation error information. Consequently, the identification error convergence can be proved under the conventional persistent excitation (PE) condition, which can be online tested in this paper. A finite-time (FT) identification scheme is further studied by incorporating the sliding mode scheme into the adaptation to achieve FT error convergence. The previously imposed constraint on the system relative degree is removed and the derivatives of the input and output are not required. Comparative simulation examples are provided to demonstrate the validity and efficacy of the proposed algorithms.     

Multi-innovation stochastic gradient algorithms for multi-input multi-output systems

This paper develops a multi-innovation stochastic gradient (MISG) algorithm for multi-input multi-output systems by expanding the innovation vector to an innovation matrix. The convergence analysis shows that the parameter estimates by the MISG algorithm consistently converge to the true parameters under the persistent excitation condition. The MISG algorithm uses not only the current innovation but also the past innovation at each iteration and repeatedly utilizes the available input–output data, thus the parameter estimation accuracy can be improved. The simulation example confirms the theoretical results.     

On parameter convergence in least squares identification and adaptive control

Least squares estimation is appealing in performance and robustness improvements of adaptive control. A strict condition termed persistent excitation (PE) needs to be satisfied to achieve parameter convergence in least squares estimation. This paper proposes a least squares identification and adaptive control strategy to achieve parameter convergence without the PE condition. A modified modeling error that utilizes online historical data together with instant data is constructed as additional feedback to update parameter estimates, and an integral transformation is introduced to avoid the time derivation of plant states in the modified modeling error. On the basis of these results, a regressor filtering–free least squares estimation law is proposed to guarantee exponential parameter convergence by an interval excitation condition, which is much weaker than the PE condition. And then, an identification‐based indirect adaptive control law is proposed to establish exponential stability of the closed‐loop system under the interval excitation condition. Illustrative results considering both identification and control problems have verified the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed approach.     

Robust adaptive finite‐time parameter estimation and control for robotic systems

This paper studies adaptive parameter estimation and control for nonlinear robotic systems based on parameter estimation errors. A framework to obtain an expression of the parameter estimation error is proposed first by introducing a set of auxiliary filtered variables. Then three novel adaptive laws driven by the estimation error are presented, where exponential error convergence is proved under the conventional persistent excitation (PE) condition; the direct measurement of the time derivatives of the system states are avoided. The adaptive laws are modified via a sliding mode technique to achieve finite‐time convergence, and an online verification of the alternative PE condition is introduced. Leakage terms, functions of the estimation error, are incorporated into the adaptation laws to avoid windup of the adaptation algorithms. The adaptive algorithm applied to robotic systems permits that tracking control and exact parameter estimation are achieved simultaneously in finite time using a terminal sliding mode (TSM) control law. In this case, the PE condition can be replaced with a sufficient richness requirement of the command signals and thus is verifiable a priori. The potential singularity problem encountered in TSM controls is remedied by introducing a two‐phase control procedure. The robustness of the proposed methods against disturbances is investigated. Simulations based on the ‘Bristol‐Elumotion‐Robotic‐Torso II’ (BERT II) are provided to validate the efficacy of the introduced methods. Copyright © 2014 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.     

Intelligent Excitation for Adaptive Control With Unknown Parameters in Reference Input

Model reference adaptive control problem is considered for a class of reference inputs dependent upon the unknown parameters of the system. Due to the uncertainty in the reference input, the tracking objective cannot be achieved without parameter convergence. The common approach of injecting persistent excitation (PE) in the reference input leads to tracking of the excited reference input as opposed to the true one. A new technique, named intelligent excitation, is presented for introducing an excitation signal in the reference input and regulating its amplitude, dependent upon the convergence of the output tracking and parameter errors. Intelligent excitation ensures parameter convergence, similar to conventional PE; it vanishes as the errors converge to zero and reinitiates with every change in the unknown parameters. As a result, the regulated output tracks the desired reference input and not the excited one.     

Convergence analysis for reduced-order adaptive controller design of uncertain SISO linear systems with noisy output measurements

We consider in this article a class of uncertain SISO linear systems that are subject to system and measurement noises. Reduced-order adaptive controller designs have been proposed before for such systems by the authors and stability analysis of the closed-loop systems has been established. Here we analyse, further, the robustness properties for these reduced-order adaptive control systems by providing detailed convergence analysis results for the key closed-loop signals and parameter estimates. We rigorously prove that, whenever the exogenous disturbance input is of finite energy and bounded, and the reference trajectory and its derivatives up to rth order are bounded, r being the relative degree of the transfer function of the true system, a set of signals, including the tracking error, the estimation error between the system output and its estimate, the projection signal, are of finite energy and converge to zero; and the system states and their estimates exhibit asymptotic behaviours with certain formats. With an additional persistency of excitation condition, it is also proved that the estimate and the worst-case estimate of the state vector asymptotically track the actual state vector; and the estimate and the worst-case estimate of the unknown parameter vector converge to the true value. A numerical example is given to illustrate the theoretical findings.     

Improving transient performance of adaptive control via a modified reference model and novel adaptation

This paper presents a new model reference adaptive control (MRAC) framework for a class of nonlinear systems to address the improvement of transient performance. The main idea is to introduce a nonlinear compensator to reshape the closed‐loop system transient, and to suggest a new adaptive law with guaranteed convergence. The compensator captures the unknown system dynamics and modifies the given nominal reference model and the control action. This modified controlled system can approach the response of the ideal reference model. The transient is easily tuned by a new design parameter of this compensator. The nominal adaptive law is augmented by new leakage terms containing the parameter estimation errors. This allows for fast, smooth and exponential convergence of both the tracking error and parameter estimation, which again improves overall reference model following. We also show that the required excitation condition for the estimation convergence is equivalent to the classical persistent excitation (PE) condition. In this respect, this paper provides an intuitive and numerically feasible approach to online validate the PE condition. The salient feature of the suggested methodology is that the rapid suppression of uncertainties in the controlled system can be achieved without using a large, high‐gain induced, learning rate in the adaptive laws. Extensive simulations are given to show the effectiveness and the improved response of the proposed schemes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A model reference adaptive control scheme for pure-feedbacknonlinear systems

A model reference adaptive control (MRAC) scheme is presented for nonlinear systems in a pure-feedback canonical form with unknown parameters. The present of parameter uncertainty in the system causes imperfect linearization, i.e. it introduces nonlinear additive terms in the transformed coordinates. Under some mild technical assumptions, global convergence of the output error is established for all initial estimates of the parameter vector lying in an open neighborhood of the true parameters in the parameter space     

Nonlinearities enhance parameter convergence in strict feedbacksystems

Following the development of a parameter convergence analysis procedure for output-feedback nonlinear systems (1995, 1998), the authors shift their attention to strict feedback nonlinear systems in this paper. They develop an analytic procedure which allows us, given a specific nonlinear system and a specific reference signal, to determine a priori whether or not the parameter estimates will converge to their true values, simply by checking the linear independence of the rows of a constant real matrix. Moreover, the authors show that this convergence is exponential. Finally, they prove that even if the rows of this constant matrix are not linearly independent, partial parameter convergence is still achieved, in the sense that the parameter error vector converges asymptotically to the left nullspace of this matrix     

Adaptive observers for a class of uniformly observable systems with nonlinear parametrization and sampled outputs

In this paper, we propose an adaptive observer for a class of uniformly observable nonlinear systems with nonlinear parametrization and sampled outputs. A high gain adaptive observer is first designed under the assumption that the output is continuously measured and its exponential convergence is investigated, thanks to a well defined persistent excitation condition. Then, we address the case where the output is available only at (non uniformly spaced) sampling instants. To this end, the continuous-time output observer is redesigned leading to an impulsive observer with a corrective term involving instantaneous state impulses corresponding to the measured samples and their estimates. Moreover, it is shown that the proposed impulsive observer can be put under the form of a hybrid system composed of a continuous-time observer coupled with an inter-sample output predictor. Two design features are worth to be emphasized. Firstly, the observer calibration is achieved through the tuning of a scalar design parameter. Secondly, the exponential convergence to zero of the observation and parameter estimation errors is established under a well defined condition on the maximum value of the sampling partition diameter. More specifically, the observer design is firstly carried out in the case of linear parametrization before being extended to the nonlinear one. The theoretical results are corroborated through simulation results involving a typical bioreactor.     

An adaptation algorithm for parallel model reference adaptive bilinear systems

An adaptation algorithm is presented for parallel model reference adaptive bilinear systems. The output error converges asymptotically to zero and the parameter estimates are bounded for stable reference models. The convergence criterion depends only upon the input sequence and a priori estimates of the maximum parameter values. A passivity condition, which is generally difficult to verify, is not required.     

Optimal finite-dimensional recursive identification in a polynomial output mapping class

A time-varying polynomial output equation expressing an implicit dependence of the observed signal on the parameter vector admits a finite-dimensional recursive representation for the optimal on-line estimator. Both continuous and discrete observations result in the differential systems which give the estimate. Deterministic exponentially weighted least-squares is applied. Exponential stability of the identifier and convergence to the true parameter value are shown. Two examples are presented. A continuous application originates in a pH-control process. The discrete identification is applied in a dynamic ARMA-type model which is quadratic in the parameter.     

A novel robust adaptive control algorithm with finite-time online parameter estimation of a humanoid robot arm

A novel robust adaptive control algorithm is proposed and implemented in real-time on two degrees-of-freedom (DOF) of the humanoid Bristol-Elumotion-Robotic-Torso II (BERT II) arm in joint-space. In addition to having a significant robustness property for the tracking, the algorithm also features a sliding-mode term based adaptive law that captures directly the parameter estimation error. An auxiliary filtered regression vector and filtered computed torque is introduced. This allows the definition of another auxiliary matrix, a filtered regression matrix, which facilitates the introduction of a sliding mode term into the adaptation law. Parameter error convergence to zero can be guaranteed within finite-time with a Persistent-Excitation (PE) condition or Sufficient Richness condition for the demand. The proposed scheme also exhibits robustness both in the tracking and parameter estimation errors to any bounded additive disturbance. This theoretical result is then exemplified for the BERT II robot arm in simulation and for experiments.     

Constraint adaptive output regulation of output feedback systems with application to electrostatic torsional micromirror

This paper studies a constraint adaptive output regulation design for a class of nonlinear systems with an unknown exosystem by output feedback control. First, by introducing an internal model with some known design parameter, our concerned problem may be formulated as a specific regulation problem with output constraint. Then, the barrier Lyapunov function technique is further integrated to approach the problem. It is shown that such a constraint adaptive output regulation problem is solvable without constraint violation. In particular, the constructed regulator cannot only keep the boundedness of the closed‐loop system signals but also guarantees the parameter convergence for the unknown parameter vector in the exosystem. As an application, it is illustrated that our result is applicable in tracking the control of an electrostatic torsional micromirror with physical geometry constraint. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

多变量输出误差系统的辅助模型随机梯度辨识算法

考虑了多变量输出误差系统的辨识问题. 使用系统可得到的输入输出数据构造一个辅助模型, 用辅助模型的输出代替信息向量中的未知变量, 提出了一个基于辅助模型的随机梯度辨识算法. 使用鞅收敛定理的收敛性分析表明: 提出的算法给出的参数估计收敛于它们的真值. 给出了带遗忘因子的辅助模型随机梯度算法来改进参数估计精度, 仿真结果证实了提出的结论.