Global asymptotic tracking for nonminimum‐phase nonlinear systems in output feedback form

The problem of global asymptotic tracking by output feedback is studied for a class of nonminimum‐phase nonlinear systems in output feedback form. It is proved that the problem is solvable by an n‐dimensional output feedback controller under the two conditions: (a) the nonminimum‐phase nonlinear system can be rendered minimum‐phase by a virtual output; and (b) the internal dynamics of the nonlinear system driven by a desired signal and its derivatives has a bounded solution trajectory. With the help of a new coordinate transformation, a constructive method is presented for the design of a dynamic output tracking controller. An example is given to validate the proposed output feedback tracking control scheme.     

Time‐varying input delay compensation for nonlinear systems with additive disturbance: An output feedback approach

This paper addresses the output feedback tracking control of a class of multiple‐input and multiple‐output nonlinear systems subject to time‐varying input delay and additive bounded disturbances. Based on the backstepping design approach, an output feedback robust controller is proposed by integrating an extended state observer and a novel robust controller, which uses a desired trajectory‐based feedforward term to achieve an improved model compensation and a robust delay compensation feedback term based on the finite integral of the past control values to compensate for the time‐varying input delay. The extended state observer can simultaneously estimate the unmeasurable system states and the additive disturbances only with the output measurement and delayed control input. The proposed controller theoretically guarantees prescribed transient performance and steady‐state tracking accuracy in spite of the presence of time‐varying input delay and additive bounded disturbances based on Lyapunov stability analysis by using a Lyapunov‐Krasovskii functional. A specific study on a 2‐link robot manipulator is performed; based on the system model and the proposed design procedure, a suitable controller is developed, and comparative simulation results are obtained to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed control scheme.     

Additive‐state‐decomposition‐based tracking control framework for a class of nonminimum phase systems with measurable nonlinearities and unknown disturbances

This paper aims to propose an additive‐state‐decomposition‐based tracking control framework, based on which the output feedback tracking problem is solved for a class of nonminimum phase systems with measurable nonlinearities and unknown disturbances. This framework is to ‘additively’ decompose the output feedback tracking problem into two more tractable problems, namely an output feedback tracking problem for a linear time invariant system and a state feedback stabilization problem for a nonlinear system. Then, one can design a controller for each problem respectively using existing methods, and these two designed controllers are combined together to achieve the original control goal. The main contribution of the paper lies on the introduction of an additive state decomposition scheme and its implementation to mitigate the design difficulty of the output feedback tracking control problem for nonminimum phase nonlinear systems. To demonstrate the effectiveness, an illustrative example is given. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Output feedback tracking control for lower‐triangular nonlinear time‐delay systems with asymmetric input saturation

In this paper, the problem of output feedback tracking control is investigated for lower‐triangular nonlinear time‐delay systems in the presence of asymmetric input saturation. A novel design program based on a dynamic high gain design approach is proposed to construct an output feedback tracking controller. The innovation here is that the problem of constructing tracking controller can be transformed into the problem of constructing two dynamic equations, with one being utilized to deal with the nonlinear terms and the other one being applied to analyze the influence of asymmetric input saturation. It is proved by an appropriate Lyapunov‐Krasovskii functional that the proposed tracking controller subject to saturation can ensure that all the signals of the closed‐loop system are globally bounded and the tracking error is prescribed sufficiently small when time is long enough. A practical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Model‐assisted extended state observer and dynamic surface control–based trajectory tracking for quadrotors via output‐feedback mechanism

In this paper, an output‐feedback trajectory tracking controller for quadrotors is presented by integrating a model‐assisted extended state observer (ESO) with dynamic surface control. The quadrotor dynamics are described by translational and rotational loops with lumped disturbances to promote the hierarchical control design. Then, by exploiting the structural property of the quadrotor, a model information–assisted high‐order ESO that relies only on position measurements is designed to estimate not only the unmeasurable states but also the lumped disturbances in the rotational loop. In addition, to account for the problem of “explosion of complexity” inherent in hierarchical control, the output feedback–based trajectory tracking and attitude stabilization laws are respectively synthesized by utilizing dynamic surface control and the corresponding estimated signals provided by the ESO. The stability analysis is given, showing that the output‐feedback trajectory tracking controller can ensure the ultimate boundedness of all signals in the closed‐loop system and make the tracking errors arbitrarily small. Finally, flight simulations with respect to an 8‐shaped trajectory command are performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme in obtaining the stable and accurate trajectory tracking using position measurements only.     

Adaptive Non‐Backstepping Fuzzy Control for a Class of Uncertain Nonlinear Systems with Unknown Dead‐Zone Input

Based on the approximation property of fuzzy logic systems, we propose a novel non‐backstepping adaptive tracking control algorithm for a class of single input single output (SISO) strict‐feedback nonlinear systems with unknown dead‐zone input. In this algorithm, we introduce some novel state variables and coordinate transforms to convert the strict‐feedback form into a normal one, and it is not necessary to consider the traditional approximation‐based the backstepping scheme. Due to new states variables being unavailable, the tracking control is changed from a state‐feedback one to an output‐feedback one. So, observers need to be designed to estimate the indirect nonmeasurable states. According to Lyapunov stability analysis method, the developed controller can guarantee that all of the signals in the closed‐loop system will be ultimately uniformly bounded (UUB), and the output can track the reference signal very well. Simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Output Feedback Adaptive Neural Control Without Seeking SPR Condition

For output‐feedback adaptive control of affine nonlinear systems based on feedback linearization and function approximation, the observation error dynamics usually should be augmented by a low‐pass filter to satisfy a strictly positive real (SPR) condition so that output feedback can be realized. Yet, this manipulation results in filtering basis functions of approximators, which makes the order of the controller dynamics very large. This paper presents a novel output‐feedback adaptive neural control (ANC) scheme to avoid seeking the SPR condition. A saturated output‐feedback control law is introduced based on a state‐feedback indirect ANC structure. An adaptive neural network (NN) observer is applied to estimate immeasurable system state variables. The output estimation error rather than the basis functions is filtered and the filter output is employed to update NNs. Under given initial conditions and sufficient control parameter constraints, it is proved that the closed‐loop system is uniformly ultimately bounded stable in the sense that both the state estimation errors and the tracking errors converge to small neighborhoods of zero. An illustrative example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach.     

Output feedback preview control for polytopic uncertain discrete‐time systems with time‐varying delay

This paper considers the preview tracking control problem of polytopic uncertain discrete‐time systems with a time‐varying delay subject to a previewable reference signal. First, a model transformation is employed and a discrete‐time system with a time‐invariant delay and an external disturbance is obtained. The difference operator method can be extended to derive an augmented error system that includes future information on the reference signal. Then, a previewable reference signal is fully utilized through reformulation of the output equation while considering the output feedback. Based on the small gain theorem, a static output feedback controller with preview actions is designed such that the output can asymptotically track the reference signal. Finally, numerical simulation examples also illustrate the superiority of the desired preview controller for the uncertain system in the paper.     

Two‐Stage Tracking Control Via Output Feedback

An algorithm is proposed combining a high‐gain control and an internal‐model control for asymptotic output tracking in the presence of non‐decaying external disturbances. The plant output is the only signal used in the feedback loops. The algorithm is divided into two stages: high‐gain control is activated in the transient phase, forcing the output to quickly approach the reference trajectory, and is then taken over by an internal‐model controller in the steady phase so that perfect output tracking can be achieved with moderate gains and smooth control efforts. Smooth transition between the two control laws is ensured through an internal‐model observer, which serves as a relaying mechanism between the high‐gain control and the internal‐model control.     

Global approximate output tracking for nonlinear systems

Addresses the global output tracking problem for nonlinear systems with singular points. For nonlinear systems which satisfy a suitable observability condition, the authors identify a class of smooth output trajectories which the system can track using continuous open-loop controls. This class includes all output trajectories generated by smooth state feedback. They then study the problem of approximate output tracking using discontinuous time-varying feedback controllers. Given a smooth output trajectory for which exact tracking is possible, the authors construct a discontinuous feedback controller which achieves robust tracking of the desired output trajectory in the face of perturbations. Finally, it is shown that their results can be applied to the control of a chain system, and some numerical results are presented to illustrate the performance of their controller     

Global Practical Tracking for Nonlinear Systems With More Unknowns via Adaptive Output‐Feedback

This paper investigates the global practical tracking via adaptive output‐feedback for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems. Essentially different from the closely related literature, the system under investigation possesses unknown time‐varying control coefficients and a polynomial‐of‐output growth rate, and meanwhile, the system nonlinearities and the reference signal allow serious unknowns. For this, an adaptive observer is designed to reconstruct the system unmeasured states, where a new dynamic gain is introduced to compensate the serious unknowns in the system nonlinearities and the reference signal. Based on this and by backstepping technique, an adaptive output‐feedback controller is successfully designed, such that all the states of the closed‐loop system are bounded, and the tracking error will be prescribed sufficiently small after a finite time. A numerical simulation is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

A Saturating Extension of an Output Feedback Controller for Internally Damped Euler‐Lagrange Systems

In this research, a novel extension of the passivity‐based output feedback trajectory tracking controller is developed for internally damped Euler‐Lagrange systems with input saturation. Compared with the previous output feedback controllers, this new design of a combined adaptive controller‐observer system will reduce the risk of actuator saturation effectively via generalized saturation functions. Semi‐global uniform ultimate boundedness stability of the tracking errors and state estimation errors is guaranteed by Lyapunov stability analysis. An application of the proposed saturated output feedback controller is the stabilization of a nonholonomic wheeled mobile robot with saturated actuators towards desired trajectories. Simulation results are provided to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed controller in dealing with the actuator saturation.     

Global output regulation for output feedback systems with an uncertain exosystem and its application

This paper presents the solvability conditions for the global robust output regulation problem for a class of output feedback systems with an uncertain exosystem by using output feedback control. An adaptive control technique is used to handle the unknown parameter vector in the exosystem. It is shown that this unknown parameter vector can be exactly estimated asymptotically if a controller containing a minimal internal model is employed. The effectiveness of our approach has been illustrated by an asymptotic tracking problem of a generalized fourth‐order Lorenz system. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Robust nonlinear control of atomic force microscope via immersion and invariance

This paper reports an immersion and invariance (I&I)–based robust nonlinear controller for atomic force microscope (AFM) applications. The AFM dynamics is prone to chaos, which, in practice, leads to performance degradation and inaccurate measurements. Therefore, we design a nonlinear tracking controller that stabilizes the AFM dynamics around a desired periodic orbit. To this end, in the tracking error state space, we define a target invariant manifold, on which the system dynamics fulfills the control objective. First, considering a nominal case with full state measurement and no modeling uncertainty, we design an I&I controller to render the target manifold exponentially attractive. Next, we consider an uncertain AFM dynamics, in which only the displacement of the probe cantilever is measured. In the framework of the I&I method, we recast the robust output feedback control problem as the immersion of the output feedback closed‐loop system into the nominal full state one. For this purpose, we define another target invariant manifold that recovers the performance of the nominal control system. Moreover, to handle large uncertainty/disturbances, we incorporate the method of active disturbance rejection into the I&I output feedback control. Through Lyapunov‐based analysis of the closed‐loop stability and robustness, we show the semiglobal practical stability and convergence of the tracking error dynamics. Finally, we present a set of detailed, comparative software simulations to assess the effectiveness of the control method.     

Delay‐ and Packet‐Disordering‐Dependent H∞ Output Tracking Control for Networked Control Systems

This paper is concerned with the problem of H_∞ output tracking control for networked control systems (NCSs) with network‐induced delay and packet disordering. Different from the results in existing literature, the controller design in this paper is both delay‐ and packet‐disordering‐dependent. Based on the different cases of consecutive predictions, the networked output tracking system is modeled into a switched system. Moreover, by the corresponding switching‐based Lyapunov functional approach, a linear matrix inequality (LMI)‐based procedure is proposed for designing state‐feedback controllers, which guarantees that the output of the closed‐loop NCSs tracks the output of a given reference model well in the H_∞ sense. In addition, the proposed method can be applied variously due to all kinds of prediction numbers of the consecutive disordering packet have been considered, and the designed controller is based on the prediction case in the last transmission interval, which brings about less conservatism. Finally numerical examples and simulations are used to illustrate the effectiveness and validity of the proposed switching‐based method and the delay‐ and packet‐disordering‐dependent H_∞ output tracking controller design.     

Fast terminal sliding‐mode finite‐time tracking control with differential evolution optimization algorithm using integral chain differentiator in uncertain nonlinear systems

This paper presents a fast terminal sliding‐mode tracking control for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with unknown parameters and system states combined with time‐varying disturbances. Fast terminal sliding‐mode finite‐time tracking systems based on differential evolution algorithms incorporate an integral chain differentiator (ICD) to feedback systems for the estimation of the unknown system states. The differential evolution optimization algorithm using ICD is also applied to a tracking controller, which provides unknown parametric estimation in the limitation of unknown system states for trajectory tracking. The ICD in the tracking systems strengthens the tracking controller robustness for the disturbances by filtering noises. As a powerful finite‐time control effort, the fast terminal sliding‐mode tracking control guarantees that all tracking errors rapidly converge to the origin. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified via simulations, and the results exhibit high‐precision output tracking performance in uncertain nonlinear systems.     

UNIVERSAL OUTPUT‐FEEDBACK SISO CONTROLLERS

It is proved in the paper that practically all known higher‐order sliding controllers can be combined with recently developed 2‐sliding‐mode‐based differentiators yielding universal output‐feedback Single‐Input‐Single‐Output (SISO) controllers. These controllers can be applied at least locally, whenever the system relative degree is known. The convergence is global, provided the system relative degree is permanent and few boundedness restrictions hold. No detailed mathematical model of the system is needed. The proposed output‐feedback controller provides for the exact finite‐time‐convergent output tracking of real‐time‐given smooth signals if the output measurements are exact. Otherwise the tracking accuracy is proportional to the magnitude of the sampling noise. The control may be made arbitrarily smooth, thereby removing the chattering effect. The theoretical results are illustrated by computer simulation.     

Adaptive output feedback tracking control for a class of uncertain switched nonlinear systems under arbitrary switching

This paper investigates the problem of adaptive output feedback tracking for uncertain switched nonlinear systems, under arbitrary switching. First, an adaptive output feedback controller is designed, which ensures the boundedness of all the closed-loop signals. Then, a novel adaptive-based robust output feedback control is proposed to drive the tracking error to zero, in which the bound of disturbances is not required to be known in advance. Both control algorithms are based on the common Lyapunov function method, without any restrictions on dwell time. To evaluate the performance of the proposed output feedback control schemes, a numerical example is presented and discussed.     

Adaptive prescribed performance tracking control for strict‐feedback nonlinear systems with zero dynamics

This paper focuses on the adaptive tracking control problem for strict‐feedback nonlinear systems with zero dynamics via prescribed performance. Based on polynomial fitting, an adjustable performance function is firstly proposed, whose parameters can be adjusted in real time according to the tracking error. Furthermore, an adaptive prescribed performance tracking controller is constructed via the backstepping method, which guarantees that all the states in the closed‐loop system are bounded. Meanwhile, the output tracking error falls within an adjustable performance boundary and asymptotically converges to zero. Simulation comparison demonstrates the advantages of the developed controller as follows: (1) the parameters of the adjustable performance function are adjusted online according to the tracking errors for a faster convergent performance boundary; (2) the steady‐state performance of the system is further optimized simultaneously.