Enlarging the domain of attraction of MPC controllers

This paper presents a method for enlarging the domain of attraction of nonlinear model predictive control (MPC). The usual way of guaranteeing stability of nonlinear MPC is to add a terminal constraint and a terminal cost to the optimization problem such that the terminal region is a positively invariant set for the system and the terminal cost is an associated Lyapunov function. The domain of attraction of the controller depends on the size of the terminal region and the control horizon. By increasing the control horizon, the domain of attraction is enlarged but at the expense of a greater computational burden, while increasing the terminal region produces an enlargement without an extra cost.In this paper, the MPC formulation with terminal cost and constraint is modified, replacing the terminal constraint by a contractive terminal constraint. This constraint is given by a sequence of sets computed off-line that is based on the positively invariant set. Each set of this sequence does not need to be an invariant set and can be computed by a procedure which provides an inner approximation to the one-step set. This property allows us to use one-step approximations with a trade off between accuracy and computational burden for the computation of the sequence. This strategy guarantees closed loop-stability ensuring the enlargement of the domain of attraction and the local optimality of the controller. Moreover, this idea can be directly translated to robust MPC.     

On the stability of constrained MPC without terminal constraint

The usual way to guarantee stability of model predictive control (MPC) strategies is based on a terminal cost function and a terminal constraint region. This note analyzes the stability of MPC when the terminal constraint is removed. This is particularly interesting when the system is unconstrained on the state. In this case, the computational burden of the optimization problem does not have to be increased by introducing terminal state constraints due to stabilizing reasons. A region in which the terminal constraint can be removed from the optimization problem is characterized depending on some of the design parameters of MPC. This region is a domain of attraction of the MPC without terminal constraint. Based on this result, it is proved that weighting the terminal cost, this domain of attraction of the MPC controller without terminal constraint is enlarged reaching (practically) the same domain of attraction of the MPC with terminal constraint; moreover, a practical procedure to calculate the stabilizing weighting factor for a given initial state is shown. Finally, these results are extended to the case of suboptimal solutions and an asymptotically stabilizing suboptimal controller without terminal constraint is presented.     

Stable MPC for tracking with maximal domain of attraction

In this work, a stable MPC that maximizes the domain of attraction of the closed-loop system is proposed. The proposed approach is suitable to real applications in the sense that it accounts for the case of output tracking, it is offset free if the output target is reachable and minimizes the offset if some of the constraints are active at steady state. The new approach is based on the definition of a Minkowski functional related to the input and terminal constraints of the stable infinite horizon MPC. It is also shown that the domain of attraction is defined by the system model and the constraints, and it does not depend on the controller tuning parameters. The proposed controller is illustrated with small order examples of the control literature.     

Decomposition principle in model predictive control for linear systems with bounded disturbances

Considering a constrained linear system with bounded disturbances, this paper proposes a novel approach which aims at enlarging the domain of attraction by combining a set-based MPC approach with a decomposition principle. The idea of the paper is to extend the “pre-stabilizing” MPC, where the MPC control sequence is parameterized as perturbations to a given pre-stabilizing feedback gain, to the case where the pre-stabilizing feedback law is given as the linear combination of a set of feedback gains. This procedure leads to a relatively large terminal set and consequently a large domain of attraction even when using short prediction horizons. As time evolves, by minimizing the nominal performance index, the resulting controller reaches the desired optimal controller with a good asymptotic performance. Compared to the standard “pre-stabilizing” MPC, it combines the advantages of having a flexible choice of feedback gains, a large domain of attraction and a good asymptotic behavior.     

Supervisory nonlinear MPC for emergency voltage control using pattern search

The design of a higher-layer controller using model predictive control (MPC) is considered. The higher-layer controller uses MPC to determine set-points for controllers in a lower control layer. In this paper the use of an object-oriented model of the system for making predictions is proposed. When employing such an object-oriented prediction model the MPC problem is a nonlinear, non-smooth optimization problem, with an objective function that is expensive to evaluate. Multi-start pattern search is proposed as approach to solving this problem, since it deals effectively with the local minima and the non-smoothness of the problem, and does not require expensive estimation of derivatives. Experiments in an emergency voltage control problem on a 9-bus dynamic power network show the superior performance of the proposed multi-start pattern-search approach when compared to a gradient-based approach.     

Output Feedback Stabilization of Linear Systems With Actuator Saturation

The note presents a method for designing an output feedback law that stabilizes a linear system subject to actuator saturation with a large domain of attraction. This method applies to general linear systems including strictly unstable ones. A nonlinear output feedback controller is first expressed in the form of a quasi-LPV system. Conditions under which the closed-loop system is locally asymptotically stable are then established in terms of the coefficient matrices of the controller. The design of the controller (coefficient matrices) that maximizes an estimate of the domain of attraction is then formulated and solved as an optimization problem with LMI constraints     

Energy-shaping control of synchronous generators with exciter-governor dual control loops

In this paper we extend the energy-shaping controller design technique, which has been successfully used for single-loop excitation regulation of synchronous generators in power systems, to the exciter–governor dual configuration. As in the simpler excitation problem, the aim of the controller is to shape the total energy function via modification of the energy transfer between electrical and mechanical subsystems—but in this dual scenario we also have to take into account the energy contribution of the governor control loop dynamics. Motivated by practical considerations we also present a partial state feedback version of the controller that is derived applying thoe immersion and invariance technique recently reported in the literature. Representative simulations show how the tuning parameters effectively shape the domain of attraction of the desired stable equilibrium enhancing the transient stability of the power system.     

MPC for tracking piecewise constant references for constrained linear systems

In this paper, a novel model predictive control (MPC) for constrained (non-square) linear systems to track piecewise constant references is presented. This controller ensures constraint satisfaction and asymptotic evolution of the system to any target which is an admissible steady-state. Therefore, any sequence of piecewise admissible setpoints can be tracked without error. If the target steady state is not admissible, the controller steers the system to the closest admissible steady state.These objectives are achieved by: (i) adding an artificial steady state and input as decision variables, (ii) using a modified cost function to penalize the distance from the artificial to the target steady state (iii) considering an extended terminal constraint based on the notion of invariant set for tracking. The control law is derived from the solution of a single quadratic programming problem which is feasible for any target. Furthermore, the proposed controller provides a larger domain of attraction (for a given control horizon) than the standard MPC and can be explicitly computed by means of multiparametric programming tools. On the other hand, the extra degrees of freedom added to the MPC may cause a loss of optimality that can be arbitrarily reduced by an appropriate weighting of the offset cost term.     

A framework for multiple robust explicit MPC controllers for linear systems

This article presents a multi-mode explicit controller for constrained linear systems with bounded disturbances using a switching strategy based on Model Predictive Control (MPC). In the proposed approach, the system switches among several MPC controllers having different performance levels. The switching is done so as to achieve increasing levels of performance as time evolves, reaching the desired controller in finite time steps. The conditions needed for switching and robust convergence of the multi-mode MPC controllers are provided. Compared with standard robust explicit MPC implementations, the proposed approach has the flexibility of having a large domain of attraction, a good asymptotic behaviour and a small number of partitions.     

Model Predictive Control Tuning by Controller Matching

The effectiveness of model predictive control (MPC) in dealing with input and state constraints during transient operations is well known. However, in contrast with several linear control techniques, closed-loop frequency-domain properties such as sensitivities and robustness to small perturbations are usually not taken into account in the MPC design. This technical note considers the problem of tuning an MPC controller that behaves as a given linear controller when the constraints are not active (e.g., for perturbations around the equilibrium that remain within the given input and state bounds), therefore inheriting the small-signal properties of the linear control design, and that still optimally deals with constraints during transients. We provide two methods for selecting the MPC weight matrices so that the resulting MPC controller behaves as the given linear controller, therefore solving the posed inverse problem of controller matching, and is globally asymptotically stable.      

A control matching model predictive control approach to string stable vehicle platooning

A predictive control strategy for vehicle platoons is presented in this paper, accommodating both string stability and constraints (e.g., physical and safety) satisfaction. In the proposed design procedure, the two objectives are achieved by matching a model predictive controller (MPC), enforcing constraints satisfaction, with a linear controller designed to guarantee string stability. The proposed approach neatly combines the straightforward design of a string stable controller in the frequency domain, where a considerable number of approaches have been proposed in literature, with the capability of an MPC-based controller enforcing state and input constraints.A controller obtained with the proposed design procedure is validated both in simulations and in the field test, showing how string stability and constraints satisfaction can be simultaneously achieved with a single controller. The operating region that the MPC controller is string stable is characterized by the interior of feasible set of the MPC controller.     

Robust explicit model predictive control for linear systems via interpolation techniques

This paper presents a novel interpolation‐based model predictive control (IMPC) for constrained linear systems with bounded disturbances. The idea of so‐called ‘pre‐stabilizing’ MPC is extended by making interpolation among several ‘pre‐stabilizing’ MPC controllers, through which the domain of attraction can be magnificently enlarged. Compared with the standard ‘pre‐stabilizing’ MPC, the proposed approach has the advantage of combining the merits of having a large domain of attraction and a good behavior. Furthermore, such an IMPC problem can be solved off‐line by multi‐parametric programming. The optimal solution is given in an explicitly piecewise affine form. A simple algorithm for the implementation of the explicit MPC control laws is also proposed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Robust Stability and Stabilization of Positive Interval Systems Subject to Actuator Saturation

This paper addresses the stabilization problem for a class of uncertain positive linear systems (PLSs) in the presence of saturating actuators. The objective is to obtain sufficient conditions for the robust stability of PLSs and to design robust state feedback control laws such that the closed‐loop uncertain system is asymptotically stable and positive at the origin with a large domain of attraction. Several sufficient conditions for robust stabilization and positivity are derived via the Lyapunov function approach and convex analysis method for both the discrete‐time and the continuous‐time cases, respectively. The state feedback controller design and the estimation of the domain of attraction are presented by solving a convex optimization problem with linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) constraints. A numerical example is given to show the effectiveness of the proposed methods.     

On stability and stabilisation for uncertain stochastic systems with time-delay and actuator saturation

This article concerns the stability analysis and design for uncertain stochastic systems with time-varying delays in state and actuator saturation. The parameter uncertainties belong to a convex polytopic set, and the delays are time varying. A sufficient condition is obtained in terms of a priori designed feedback matrix for determining if a given set is in inside the domain of attraction. Using the linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach, an estimate of the domain of attraction is presented. The problem of designing a state feedback controller such that the domain of attraction is enlarged is formulated through solving an optimisation problem with LMI constraints. A numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed results.     

Robust tube-based MPC for tracking of constrained linear systems with additive disturbances

This paper is devoted to solve the problem that the predictive controllers may present when the target operation point changes. Model predictive controllers (MPC) are capable to steer an uncertain system to a given target operation point fulfilling the constraints. But if the target changes significantly the controller may not success due to the loss of feasibility of the optimization problem and the inadequacy of the terminal conditions.This paper presents a novel formulation of a robust model predictive controller (MPC) for tracking changing targets based on a single optimization problem. The plant is assumed to be modelled as a linear system with additive uncertainties confined to a bounded known polyhedral set. Under mild assumptions, the proposed MPC is feasible under any change of the target and steers the uncertain system to (a neighborhood of) the target if this is admissible. If the target is not admissible, and hence unreachable, the system is steered to the closest admissible operating point.The controller formulation has some parameters which provide extra degrees of freedom. These new parameters allow control objectives such as disturbance rejection, output offset prioritization or enlargement of the domain of attraction to be dealt with. The paper shows how these parameters can be calculated off-line.In order to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed controller, it has been tested on a real plant: the four tanks plant which is a multivariable nonlinear system configured to exhibit non-minimum phase transmission zeros. Experimental results show the robust stability and offset-free tracking of the controlled plant.     

Controller design for stochastic Markovian switching systems with time-varying delay and actuator saturation

The paper deals with controller design for stochastic Markovian switching systems with time-varying delay and actuator saturation by implying a new criterion for the domain of attraction firstly. By constructing more appropriate Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional, some new conditions for verifying stochastic stability of the plant are established. Then, the state feedback controller is designed to expand the domain of attraction of the corresponding closed-loop system. The procedure of deriving controller gain matrices is converted into an optimisation problem with constraints of a set of linear matrix inequalities. The mathematical model of RLC series circuit illustrates the validity of the obtained results.     

Computation delay compensation for real time implementation of robust model predictive control

The implementation of model predictive control (MPC) requires to solve an optimization problem online. The computation time, often not negligible especially for nonlinear MPC (NMPC), introduces a delay in the feedback loop. Moreover, it impedes fast sampling rate setting for the controller to react to uncertainties quickly. In this paper, a dual time scale control scheme is proposed for linear/nonlinear systems with external disturbances. A pre-compensator works at fast sampling rate to suppress uncertainty, while the outer MPC controller updates the open loop input sequence at a slower rate. The computation delay is explicitly considered and compensated in the MPC design. Four robust MPC algorithms for linear/nonlinear systems in the literature are adopted and tailored for the proposed control scheme. The recursive feasibility and stability are rigorously analysed. Three simulation examples are provided to validate the proposed approaches.     

基于累积平方误差–总平方波动指标的模型预测控制器性能评价及自愈

本文针对模型预测控制器实际投运中遇到性能下降问题,提出了一种基于累积平方误差(ISE)–总平方波动(TSV)指标的模型预测控制器性能评价及自愈方法.先基于累积平方误差(ISE)和总平方波动(TSV)指标对模型预测控制器进行实时性能评价,再根据无限时域模型预测控制器(MPC)的逆特性,基于ISE–TSV指标的分析,提出了...     

力矩受限的机器人吸引域估计方法

针对力矩受限的机器人组合非线性反馈控制的局部稳定区域描述问题,研究了吸引域的估计方法.利用不变集属性和椭球性质,定义两种不同意义的最大椭球不变集来逼近吸引域,分别采用设置初始状态法和参考形状集法求解.通过带有约束的优化问题描述,所有条,件均能转化为线性矩阵不等式条件,易于求解.由于采用优化技术,能够减小吸引域估计的保守性.数值算例验证了所提方法的有效性.