An iterative learning approach to formation control of multi-agent systems

In this paper, an efficient framework is proposed to the formation control problem of multiple agents with unknown nonlinear dynamics, by means of the iterative learning approach. In particular, a distributed D-type iterative learning scheme is developed for the multi-agent system with switching topology, whose switching time and sequence are allowed to be varied at different iterations according to the actual trajectories of agents, and a sufficient condition is derived to ensure that the desired formation can be always preserved from the initial starting location to the final one after some iterations. Simulation results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

An algebraic approach to supervisory control

Supervisory control problems are formulated in terms of a process model where the mechanism of control is expressed in terms of an algebraic operator with the plant and supervision processes as its arguments. The solution subspaces for supervisory processes restrict the observation and the control capability of supervision. The main result corresponds to decentralized marked supervision under partial observations, and specific cases are derived from this result in a unified, algebraic way. The result and its derivation demonstrate the relative simplicity of the algebraic process formulation.     

An inverse-model approach to multivariable norm optimal iterative learning control with auxiliary optimisation

Motivated by the commonly encountered problem in which tracking is only required at selected intermediate points within the time interval, a general optimisation-based iterative learning control (ILC) algorithm is derived that ensures convergence of tracking errors to zero whilst simultaneously minimising a specified quadratic objective function of the input signals and chosen auxiliary (state) variables. In practice, the proposed solutions enable a repeated tracking task to be accurately completed whilst simultaneously reducing undesirable effects such as payload spillage, vibration tendencies and actuator wear. The theory is developed using the well-known norm optimal ILC (NOILC) framework, using general linear, functional operators between real Hilbert spaces. Solutions are derived using feedforward action, convergence is proved and robustness bounds are presented using both norm bounds and positivity conditions. Algorithms are specified for both continuous and discrete-time state-space representations, with the latter including application to multi-rate sampled systems. Experimental results using a robotic manipulator confirm the practical utility of the algorithms and the closeness with which observed results match theoretical predictions.     

非线性离散时间系统的最优终端迭代学习控制

仅利用系统的终端输出误差而不是整个输出轨迹,提出了一种最优终端迭代学习控制方法.控制信号可直接通过终点的误差信息进行更新.主要创新点在于控制器的设计和分析只利用系统量测的I/O数据而不需要关于系统模型的任何信息,并可实现沿迭代轴的单调收敛.在此意义上,所提出的控制器是数据驱动的无模型控制方法.严格的数学分析和仿真结果均表明了所提出方法的适用性和有效性.     

An iterative learning control design approach for networked control systems with data dropouts

In network‐based iterative learning control (ILC) systems, data dropout often occurs during data packet transfers from the remote plant to the ILC controller. This paper considers the problem of controller design for such ILC processes. Packet missing is modeled by stochastic variables satisfying the Bernoulli random binary distribution, which renders such an ILC system to be a stochastic one. Then, the design of ILC law is transformed into the stabilization of a 2‐D stochastic system described by the Roesser model. A sufficient condition for mean‐square asymptotic stability is established by means of a linear matrix inequality technique, and formulas can be given for the control law design simultaneously. This result is further extended to more general cases where the system matrices also contain uncertain parameters. The effectiveness and merits of the proposed method are illustrated by a numerical example. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An open-closed-loop iterative learning control approach for nonlinear switched systems with application to freeway traffic control

For nonlinear switched discrete-time systems with input constraints, this paper presents an open-closed-loop iterative learning control (ILC) approach, which includes a feedforward ILC part and a feedback control part. Under a given switching rule, the mathematical induction is used to prove the convergence of ILC tracking error in each subsystem. It is demonstrated that the convergence of ILC tracking error is dependent on the feedforward control gain, but the feedback control can speed up the convergence process of ILC by a suitable selection of feedback control gain. A switched freeway traffic system is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed ILC law.     

An LMI approach for robust iterative learning control with quadratic performance criterion

This paper presents the design of iterative learning control based on quadratic performance criterion (Q-ILC) for linear systems subject to additive uncertainty. The robust Q-ILC design can be cast as a min–max problem. We propose a novel approach which employs an upper bound of the worst-case performance, then formulates a non-convex quadratic minimization problem to get the update of iterative control inputs. Applying Lagrange duality, the Lagrange dual function of the non-convex quadratic problem is equivalent to a convex optimization over linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). An LMI algorithm with convergence properties is then given for the robust Q-ILC design. Finally, we provide a numerical example to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

An extended PID type iterative learning control

This paper presents a new iterative learning control (ILC) for discrete-time single-input single-output (SISO) linear time-invariant (LTI) systems. To establish this ILC, the input of the controlled system is modified by using a novel four-parametric algorithm. This algorithm is called the extended proportional plus integral and derivative (EPID) type, since by eliminating the fourth parameter of it one would get to the PID type ILC, therefore PID type ILC is a special case of it. The convergence of the proposed ILC is analyzed and an optimal method is presented to determine its parameters. It is shown that the given ILC has a better performance than the PID-type one. Three illustrative examples are included to demonstrate the effectiveness and the preference of the presented ILC.     

迭代学习在网络控制中的应用*

针对网络拥塞控制中网络拥塞本身无法建立精确的数学模型的问题,基于迭代学习控制具有结构简单及对系统精确模型不依赖等优点,首次提出了用迭代学习控制算法来解决网络拥塞,其主要目的是提高网络资源的利用率并提供给信源公平的资源分配份额。在提出算法前,首先通过分析网络模型建立了网络拥塞被控系统;然后提出了针对该被控系统的开闭环PID型迭代学习控制算法并证明了其收敛性;最后运用此算法建立了网络拥塞控制模型。通过实验和仿真表明,该算法对解决网络拥塞问题有很好的效果。     

An iterative optimization approach to design of control Lyapunov function

This paper presents a fractional programming formulation and its solution strategy for design of control Lyapunov function (CLF) to guarantee the closed-loop stability of a control affine system for the states in a specified region. Without restrictive assumptions found in previous approaches, the fractional programming problem is reformulated as a recursive optimization problem to solve for a CLF with basis functions. A computationally effective derivative-free coordinate search method is proposed to find the solution, where the search space is confined by a piecewise linear function that approximates the lower bound of objective function. A CLF-based controller design is also proposed to handle infinity-norm input constraints. Two examples with actuator saturation and state constraints demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.     

A multi-objective iterative learning control approach for additive manufacturing applications

Iterative learning control (ILC) is a method for improving the performance of stable, repetitive systems. Standard ILC is constructed in the temporal domain, with performance improvements achieved through iterative updates to the control signal. Recent ILC research focuses on reformulating temporal ILC into the spatial domain, where 2D convolution accounts for spatial closeness. This work expands spatial ILC to include optimization of multiple performance metrics. Performance objectives are classified into primary, complementary, competing, and domain specific objectives. New robustness and convergence criteria are provided. Simulation results validate flexibility of the spatial framework on a high-fidelity additive manufacturing system model.     

Formation control of discrete-time multi-agent systems by iterative learning approach

In this paper, the formation control problem is investigated for discrete-time multi-agent systems with unknown nonlinear dynamics by means of the iterative learning approach. For networks with switching topology, a distributed iterative learning scheme is developed using the local formation error data with anticipation in time, and a sufficient condition is derived to guarantee that the desired formation can be preserved during the whole finite-time motion or operation process, even in the presence of initial formation errors. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

An algebraic approach to shape-from-image problems

This paper presents a new method for recovering three-dimensional shapes of polyhedral objects from their single-view images. The problem of recovery is formulated in a constrained optimization problem, in which the constraints reflect the assumption that the scene is composed of polyhedral objects, and the objective function to be minimized is a weighted sum of quadric errors of surface information such as shading and texture. For practical purpose it is decomposed into the two more tractable problems: a linear programming problem and an unconstrained optimization problem. In the present method the global constraints placed by the polyhedron assumption are represented in terms of linear algebra, whereas similar constraints have usually been represented in terms of a gradient space. Moreover, superstrictness of the constraints can be circumvented by a new concept ‘position-free incidence structure’. For this reason the present method has several advantages: it can recover the polyhedral shape even if image data are incorrect due to vertex-position errors, it can deal with perspective projection as well as orthographic projection, the number of variables in the optimization problem is very small (three or a little greater than three), and any kinds of surface information can be incorporated in a unifying manner.     

拟合迭代学习数据的工业过程控制器

为进一步提高工业过程控制系统的跟踪能力, 实现稳、准、快等性能, 本文利用迭代学习算法产生的各类信息, 在控制器函数拟合的基础上, 设计了一种高精度跟踪的鲁棒控制器. 首先在频域对闭环迭代学习算法进行分析, 得出迭代学习控制器等同于级联控制器的结论, 进而采用一个低阶结构的控制器去拟合误差序列与控制序列,避免了难以物理实现的高阶控制器, 最后通过对一般的工业过程对象进行实验设计, 结果表明这种控制器在快速性、无超调及控制精度上具有很好的优势, 并且具有良好的抑制干扰能力.     

An iterative approach to the optimal co-design of linear control systems

This paper investigates the optimal co-design of both physical plants and control policies for a class of continuous-time linear control systems. The optimal co-design of a specific linear control system is commonly formulated as a nonlinear non-convex optimisation problem (NNOP), and solved by using iterative techniques, where the plant parameters and the control policy are updated iteratively and alternately. This paper proposes a novel iterative approach to solve the NNOP, where the plant parameters are updated by solving a standard semi-definite programming problem, with non-convexity no longer involved. The proposed system design is generally less conservative in terms of the system performance compared to the conventional system-equivalence-based design, albeit the range of applicability is slightly reduced. A practical optimisation algorithm is proposed to compute a sub-optimal solution ensuring the system stability, and the convergence of the algorithm is established. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is illustrated by its application to the optimal co-design of a physical load positioning system.     

An algebraic approach to feature interactions

The various approaches proposed to provide communication between CAD systems and process planning systems share the major problem that, due to geometric interactions among features, there may be several equally valid sets of manufacturable features describing the same part, and different sets of features may differ in their manufacturability. Thus, to produce a good process plan-or, in some cases, any plan at ll-it may be necessary to interpret the part as a different set of features than the one initially obtained from the CAD model. This is addressed using an algebra of features. Given a set of features describing a machinable part, other equally valid interpretations of the part can be produced by performing operations in the algebra. This will enable automated process planning systems to examine these interpretations in order to see which one is most appropriate for use in manufacturing. The feature algebra has been implemented for a restricted domain and integrated with the Protosolid solid modeling system and the EFHA process planning system     

一种间歇过程的综合预测迭代学习控制方法

为了提高迭代学习控制方法在间歇过程轨迹跟踪问题中的收敛速度,本文将批次间的比例型迭代学习控制与批次内的模型预测控制相结合,提出了一种综合应用方法.首先根据间歇过程的线性模型,预测出比例型迭代学习控制的系统输出,然后在批次内采用模型预测控制,通过极小化一个二次型目标函数来获得控制增量.该方法可使系统输出跟踪期望轨迹的速度比比例型迭代学习控制方法更快些.最后通过仿真实例验证了该方法的有效性.     

A non-standard iterative learning control approach to tracking periodic signals in discrete-time non-linear systems

In this paper we use the formalism of iterative learning control (ILC) to solve the repetitive control problem of forcing a system to track a prescribed periodic reference signal. Although the systems we consider operate continuously in time, rather than with trials that have distinct starting and ending times, we use the ILC approach by defining a 'trial' in terms of completion of a single 'period' of the output trajectory, where a period is an interval from the start of the trial until the system returns to its initial state. The ILC scheme we develop does not use the standard assumption of uniform trial length. In the final result the periodic motion is achieved by 'repetition' of the learned ILC input signal for a single period. Analysis of the convergence of the algorithm uses an intermediate convergence result for the typical ILC problem. This intermediate result is based on a multi-loop control interpretation of the signal flow in ILC. The idea is demonstrated on an example and it is noted that it may be possible to generalize the ideas to broader classes of systems and ILC algorithms.     

Approximate adjoint-based iterative learning control

This paper characterises stochastic convergence properties of adjoint-based (gradient-based) iterative learning control (ILC) applied to systems with load disturbances, when provided only with approximate gradient information and noisy measurements. Specifically, conditions are discussed under which the approximations will result in a scheme which converges to an optimal control input. Both the cases of time-invariant step sizes and cases of decreasing step sizes (as in stochastic approximation) are discussed. These theoretical results are supplemented with an application on a sequencing batch reactor for wastewater treatment plants, where approximate gradient information is available. It is found that for such case adjoint-based ILC outperforms inverse-based ILC and model-free P-type ILC, both in terms of convergence rate and measurement noise tolerance.     

Convex modifications to an iterative learning control law

In this paper, a predictive norm-optimal iterative learning control algorithm from Amann, Owens, and Rogers (Int. J. Control 69 (2) (1998) 203-226) is analyzed. The main new result of this is that any of the predictive inputs from the predictive algorithm can be used in the control of the plant. This results in a faster convergence rate than that obtained with the approach proposed by Amann, Owens, and Rogers. Furthermore, the nature of the convergence of this new scheme is analysed in detail in terms of the free parameters of the algorithm.