An algebraic approach towards the controllability of controlled switching linear hybrid systems

Based on the hybrid controllability concept (IEEE Automat. Control 43(4) (1998) 491), the controllability problem for a class of hybrid control systems referred to as controlled switching linear hybrid systems is discussed. One sufficient condition and one necessary condition are derived by employing algebraic manipulations of related system matrices. The computational test of these conditions and some examples are also discussed.     

Non-zenoness of piecewise affine dynamical systems and affine complementarity systems with inputs

In the context of continuous piecewise affine dynamical systems and affine complementarity systems with inputs, we study the existence of Zeno behavior, i.e., infinite number of mode transitions in a finite-length time interval, in this paper. The main result reveals that continuous piecewise affine dynamical systems with piecewise real-analytic inputs do not exhibit Zeno behavior. Applied the achieved result to affine complementarity systems with inputs, we also obtained a similar conclusion. A direct benefit of the main result is that one can apply smooth ordinary differential equations theory in a local manner for the analysis of continuous piecewise affine dynamical systems with inputs.     

Necessary and sufficient condition for the controllability of switching linear hybrid systems

Controllability of switching linear hybrid systems by means of algebraic conditions was discussed by Yang (Automatica 38 (2002), 1221). This paper shows that algebraic conditions complemented with an assumption on the switching function provides not only necessary but also sufficient condition for the problem. The relation of these algebraic conditions with an invariant subspace algorithm is also presented.     

Stochastic controllability of linear systems with Markovian jumps

The notion of stochastic controllability for linear systems subject to Markovian jumps in parameter values is studied. An algebraic necessary and sufficient condition is obtained in terms of an easily computable rank test.     

Exact observability and controllability for linear neutral type systems

The problem of exact observability is analyzed for a wide class of neutral type systems by an infinite dimensional approach. The duality with the exact controllability problem is the main tool. It is based on an explicit expression of a neutral type system which corresponding to the abstract adjoint system. A nontrivial relation is obtained between the initial neutral system and the system obtained via the adjoint abstract state operator. The characterization of the duality between controllability and observability is deduced, and then observability conditions are obtained.     

Global controllability of linear autonomous systems: A geometric consideration

The global controllability in finite time of a linear autonomous system with restrained controls is investigated. Necessary and sufficient conditions are obtained by an approach based on the consideration of geometric properties of the system.     

A full characterization of stabilizability of bimodal piecewise linear systems with scalar inputs

This paper studies open-loop stabilization problem for bimodal systems with continuous vector field. It is based on the earlier work of the authors on the controllability problem for the same class of systems. A full characterization of stabilizability is established by presenting algebraic necessary and sufficient conditions. It is also shown that controllability implies stabilizability for these systems in a very similar fashion to the linear case.     

Stability tests and stabilization for piecewise linear systems based on poles and zeros of subsystems

This paper provides several stability tests for piecewise linear systems and proposes a method of stabilization for bimodal systems. In particular, we derive an explicit and exact stability test for planar systems, which is given in terms of coefficients of transfer functions of subsystems. Restricting attention to the bimodal and planar case, we show simple stability tests. In addition, we drive a necessary stability condition and a sufficient stability condition for higher-order and bimodal systems. They are given in terms of the eigenvalue loci and the observability of subsystems. All the stability tests provided in this paper are computationally tractable, and our results are applied to the stabilizability problem. We confirm the exactness and effectiveness of our approach by illustrative examples.     

On partitioned controllability of switched linear systems

When a switched linear system is not completely controllable, the controllability subspace is not enough to describe the controllability of the system over whole state space. In this case the state space can be divided into two or three control-invariant sub-manifolds, which form a control-related partition of the state space. This paper investigates when each component is a controllable sub-manifold. First, we consider when a sub-manifold is controllable for no control input case. Then the results are used to produce a necessary and sufficient condition assuring the controllability of the partitioned control-invariant sub-manifolds of a class of switched linear systems. An example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the results.     

On the controllability of switching linear systems

This note presents a necessary and sufficient condition for small time controllability of a linear switching system (that is, a collection of linear time-invariant control systems, where a trajectory is any concatenation of trajectories of the individual systems). This result extends the controllability condition recently obtained for unconstrained linear switching systems to the case of control which is constrained in a cone.     

Discrete-time linear periodic systems: A note on the reachability and controllability interval length

Discrete-time linear systems with periodic coefficients of period T are considered in this paper. The reachability and controllability indices at time t for periodic systems, μ_rt and μ_ct, are defined. It is shown that the reachability [controllability] subspace at time t does coincide with the reachability [controllability] subspace over the interval (t − μ_rt,T, t) [(t, t + μ_ct.,T)] and properly includes the reachability [controllability] subspace over the interval (t −(μ_rt−1) T, t) [(t, t +(μ_cr−1)T)].     

Robust controllability of linear stochastic uncertain systems

The paper extends the concept of robust controllability via linear state feedback to stochastic uncertain systems. We show that the controllability of a stochastic uncertain system can be characterized using solutions to a game-type differential Riccati equation.     

Stability and controllability of planar, conewise linear systems

This paper presents a fairly complete treatment of stability and controllability of piecewise-linear systems defined on a conic partition of . This includes necessary and sufficient conditions for stability and controllability, as well as establishing that controllability implies stabilizability by piecewise-linear state feedback. A key tool in the approach is the study of the Poincaré map.     

A notion of possible controllability for uncertain linear systems with structured uncertainty

This paper introduces a notion of possible controllability for a class of uncertain linear systems with structured uncertainty described by averaged integral quadratic constraints. This notion relates to the question of when a state is controllable for some possible value of the uncertainty. The notion of possible controllability is motivated by a desire to extend the theory of minimal realization for linear time invariant systems to the case of uncertain systems with structured uncertainty.     

Design of switching sequences for controllability realization of switched linear systems

In this paper, we study the problem of designing switching sequences for controllability of switched linear systems. Each controllable state set of designed switching sequences coincides with the controllable subspace. Both aperiodic and periodic switching sequences are considered. For the aperiodic case, a new approach is proposed to construct switching sequences, and the number of switchings involved in each designed switching sequence is shown to be upper bounded by d(d-d₁+1). Here d is the dimension of the controllable subspace, , where (A_i,B_i) are subsystems. For the periodic case, we show that the controllable subspace can be realized within d switching periods.     

Positive state controllability of positive linear systems

Controllability of positive systems by positive inputs arises naturally in applications where both external and internal variables must remain positive for all time. In many applications, particularly in population biology, the need for positive inputs is often overly restrictive. Relaxing this requirement, the notion of positive state controllability of positive systems is introduced. A connection between positive state controllability and positive input controllability of a related system is established and used to obtain Kalman-like controllability criteria. In doing so we aim to encourage further study in this underdeveloped area.     

Input addition and leader selection for the controllability of graph-based systems

In this paper, we consider dynamical graph-based models, which are well fitted for the structural analysis of complex systems. A significant amount of work has been devoted to the controllability of such graph based models, e.g. recently for multi-agent systems or complex networks. We study here the controllability through input addition in this framework. We present several variants of this problem depending on the freedom which is left to the designer on the additional inputs. We use a unified framework, which allows us to encompass the different applications and representations (large scale systems, complex communications networks, multi-agent systems, …) and provide convenient graph tools for their analysis. Our contribution is to characterize the structural modifications of the system resulting from an input addition (or a leader selection) and of the mechanisms which lead to controllability. We provide information on the possible location of additional inputs and on the minimal number of inputs to be added for controllability.     

DC programming and DCA for solving Brugnano–Casulli piecewise linear systems

Piecewise linear optimization is one of the most frequently used optimization models in practice, such as transportation, finance and supply-chain management. In this paper, we investigate a particular piecewise linear optimization that is optimizing the norm of piecewise linear functions (NPLF). Specifically, we are interested in solving a class of Brugnano–Casulli piecewise linear systems (PLS), which can be reformulated as an NPLF problem. Speaking generally, the NPLF is considered as an optimization problem with a nonsmooth, nonconvex objective function. A new and efficient optimization approach based on DC (Difference of Convex functions) programming and DCA (DC Algorithms) is developed. With a suitable DC formulation, we design a DCA scheme, named ℓ₁-DCA, for the problem of optimizing the ℓ₁-norm of NPLF. Thanks to particular properties of the problem, we prove that under some conditions, our proposed algorithm converges to an exact solution after a finite number of iterations. In addition, when a nonglobal solution is found, a numerical procedure is introduced to find a feasible point having a smaller objective value and to restart ℓ₁-DCA at this point. Several numerical experiments illustrate these interesting convergence properties. Moreover, we also present an application to the free-surface hydrodynamic problem, where the correct numerical modeling often requires to have the solution of special PLS, with the aim of showing the efficiency of the proposed method.