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.     

Vertical manoeuvring and rotor speed robust control for mini-helicopter

A robust control approach is presented for vertical manoeuvring helicopters with aerodynamics acting on the main rotor. An induced inflow observer is applied which only requires the measured values of the vertical accelerator in the body frame. The controller consists of three parts: a feedback linearisation controller, a nominal controller and a robust compensator. Feedback linearisation is applied to decouple the vertical motion dynamics and the rotor speed dynamics; the nominal controller aims to achieve desired performances for the nominal system without external disturbances or uncertainties; and the robust compensator is designed to restrain the effect of the external disturbance and the uncertainties. It is proven that all the states involved are bounded and the tracking error of the actual system can converge into an arbitrary specified boundary in a finite time for any given initial state. The results of outdoor flight experiments show that the robust tracking performances are consistent with the theory analysis conclusions.     

高超声速飞行器非线性鲁棒控制律设计

高超声速飞行器具有模型非线性程度高、耦合程度强、参数不确定性大、抗干扰能力弱等特点,其自主控制具有较大的挑战.论文提出了一种基于鲁棒补偿技术和反馈线性化方法的非线性鲁棒控制方法.文中首先采用反馈线性化的方法对纵向模型进行输入输出线性化,实现速度和高度通道的解耦和非线性模型的线性化.针对得到的线性模型,设计包括标称控制器和鲁棒补偿器的线性控制器.基于极点配置原理,设计标称控制器使标称线性系统具有期望的输入输出特性,利用鲁棒补偿器来抑制参数不确定性和外界扰动对于闭环控制系统的影响.基于小增益定理,证明了闭环控制系统的鲁棒稳定性和鲁棒跟踪性能.相比于非线性回路成形控制方法,仿真结果表明了所设计非线性鲁棒控制算法的有效性和优越性.     

Robust Tracking Control Of The Variable Stiffness Actuator Based On The Lever Mechanism

This paper is concerned with the design of a robust adaptive tracking control scheme for a class of variable stiffness actuators (VSAs) based on the lever mechanisms. For these VSAs based on the lever mechanisms, the AwAS‐II developed at Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) is chosen as the study object, and it is an enhanced version of the original realization AwAS (actuator with adjustable stiffness). Firstly, for the dynamic model of the AwAS‐II system in the presence of parametric uncertainties, unknown bounded friction torques, unknown bounded external disturbance and input saturation constraints, by using the coordinate transformations and the static state feedback linearization, the state space model of the AwAS‐II system with composite disturbances and input saturation constraints is transformed into an uncertain multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) linear system with lumped disturbances and input saturation constraints. Subsequently, a combination of the feedback linearization, disturbance observer, sliding mode control and adaptive input saturation compensation law is adopted for the design of the robust tracking controller that simultaneously regulates the position and stiffness of the AwAS‐II system. Under the proposed controller, the semi‐global uniformly ultimately bounded stability of the closed‐loop system has been proved via Lyapunov stability analysis. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness and the robustness of the proposed robust adaptive tracking control scheme.     

Robust neural network–based tracking control and stabilization of a wheeled mobile robot with input saturation

This paper presents a robust neural network–based control scheme to deal with the problem of tracking and stabilization simultaneously for a wheeled mobile robot subject to parametric uncertainties, external disturbances, and input saturation. At first, a new error‐state transformation scheme is designed by introducing some auxiliary variables as an additional virtual control signals to reduce the adverse effect caused by the underactuation. These variables can change their structures for different desired trajectories to be tracked. Then, a robust control law is proposed combining with a kinematic controller and a dynamic controller, while a three‐layer neural network system is applied to approximate model uncertainties. Stability analysis via the Lyapunov theory shows that the proposed controller can make tracking errors converge to bounded neighborhoods of the origin. Finally, some simulation results are illustrated to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.     

Robust output feedback model predictive control of constrained linear systems

This paper provides a solution to the problem of robust output feedback model predictive control of constrained, linear, discrete-time systems in the presence of bounded state and output disturbances. The proposed output feedback controller consists of a simple, stable Luenberger state estimator and a recently developed, robustly stabilizing, tube-based, model predictive controller. The state estimation error is bounded by an invariant set. The tube-based controller ensures that all possible realizations of the state trajectory lie in a simple uncertainty tube the ‘center’ of which is the solution of a nominal (disturbance-free) system and the ‘cross-section’ of which is also invariant. Satisfaction of the state and input constraints for the original system is guaranteed by employing tighter constraint sets for the nominal system. The complexity of the resultant controller is similar to that required for nominal model predictive control.     

Decentralized tube‐based model predictive control of uncertain nonlinear multiagent systems

This paper addresses the problem of decentralized tube‐based nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) for a general class of uncertain nonlinear continuous‐time multiagent systems with additive and bounded disturbance. In particular, the problem of robust navigation of a multiagent system to predefined states of the workspace while using only local information is addressed under certain distance and control input constraints. We propose a decentralized feedback control protocol that consists of two terms: a nominal control input, which is computed online and is the outcome of a decentralized finite horizon optimal control problem that each agent solves at every sampling time, for its nominal system dynamics; and an additive state‐feedback law which is computed offline and guarantees that the real trajectories of each agent will belong to a hypertube centered along the nominal trajectory, for all times. The volume of the hypertube depends on the upper bound of the disturbances as well as the bounds of the derivatives of the dynamics. In addition, by introducing certain distance constraints, the proposed scheme guarantees that the initially connected agents remain connected for all times. Under standard assumptions that arise in nominal NMPC schemes, controllability assumptions, communication capabilities between the agents, it is guaranteed that the multiagent system is input‐to‐state stable with respect to the disturbances, for all initial conditions satisfying the state constraints. Simulation results verify the correctness of the proposed framework.     

An Intelligent Robust Tracking Control for a Class of Electrically Driven Mobile Robots

This paper addresses the problem of designing robust tracking control for a class of uncertain wheeled mobile robots actuated by brushed direct current motors. This class of electrically‐driven mechanical systems consists of the robot kinematics, the robot dynamics, and the wheel actuator dynamics. Via the backstepping technique, an intelligent robust tracking control scheme that integrates a kinematic controller and an adaptive neural network‐based (or fuzzy‐based) controller is developed such that all of the states and signals of the closed‐loop system are bounded and the tracking error can be made as small as possible. Two adaptive approximation systems are constructed to learn the behaviors of unknown mechanical and electrical dynamics. The effects of both the approximation errors and the unmodeled time‐varying perturbations in the input and virtual‐input weighting matrices are counteracted by suitably tuning the control gains. Consequently, the robust control scheme developed here can be employed to handle a broader class of electrically‐driven wheeled mobile robots in the presence of high‐degree time‐varying uncertainties. Finally, a simulation example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed control scheme.     

Contribution to synthesis of manipulator control

The article addresses the control problem associated with tracking a trajectory which is predefined by the desired position and orientation of the end-effector tip (stage of nominal control). The problem is compounded by the assumption that variations in system parameters may occur thereby requiring that the nominal control be complemented with a controller (stage of perturbed control) which would regulate the disturbance produced by the variation in system parameters. A new formulation of the robot model for control synthesis is presented. The new formulation facilitates the synthesis of regulators for parameter variations using a robust servomechanism approach or a force feedback approach. The two approaches are illustrated using examples. The first example uses robust regulation to reject step input disturbances. The second example simulates the operation of peg-in-hole insertion using force feedback with an LQ controller.     

Asynchronous Observer Design for Switched Linear Systems: A Tube-Based Approach

This paper proposes a tube-based method for the asynchronous observation problem of discrete-time switched linear systems in the presence of amplitude-bounded disturbances.Sufficient stability conditions of the nominal observer error system under mode-dependent persistent dwell-time(MPDT)switching are first established. Taking the disturbances into account, a novel asynchronous MPDT robust positive invariant(RPI) set and an asynchronous MPDT generalized RPI(GRPI)set are determined for the difference system between the nominal and disturbed observer error systems. Further, the global uniform asymptotical stability of the observer error system is established in the sense of converging to the asynchronous MPDT GRPI set, i.e., the cross section of the tube of the observer error system. Finally, the proposed results are validated on a space robot manipulator example.     

Robust‐decentralized tracking control for a class of uncertain MIMO nonlinear systems with time‐varying delays

A new control design method based on signal compensation is proposed for a class of uncertain multi‐input multi‐output (MIMO) nonlinear systems in block‐triangular form with nonlinear uncertainties, unknown virtual control coefficients, strongly coupled interconnections, time‐varying delays, and external disturbances. By this method, the controller design is performed in a backstepping manner. At each step of backstepping procedure, a nominal virtual controller is first designed to get desired output tracking for the nominal disturbance‐free subsystem, and then a robust virtual compensator is designed to restrain the effect of the uncertainties, delays involved in the subsystem, and the couplings among the subsystems. The designed controller is linear and time‐invariant, so the explosion of complexity in the control law is avoid. It is proved that robust stability and robust practical tracking property of the closed‐loop system can be ensured, and the tracking errors can be made as small as desired. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On robustness and precision of mobile robots missions

This paper proposes solutions for the robust achievement of displacement missions by a wheeled mobile robot. The considered disturbances are generated by the use of inaccurate configuration estimates as feedback information. Those errors are characterized in a bounded error context. We introduce a trajectory tracking controller whose stability is analysed by a Lyapunov function the time derivative of which is negative definite inside a large domain around the zero error. This property makes it possible to define a bounded attractive domain around the nominal trajectory, quantifying thus the guaranteed precision of the mission. The method is extended to a parking non-stationary controller and illustrated by a real experiment.     

Multi‐parametric extremum seeking‐based iterative feedback gains tuning for nonlinear control

We study in this paper the problem of iterative feedback gains auto‐tuning for a class of nonlinear systems. For the class of input–output linearizable nonlinear systems with bounded additive uncertainties, we first design a nominal input–output linearization‐based robust controller that ensures global uniform boundedness of the output tracking error dynamics. Then, we complement the robust controller with a model‐free multi‐parametric extremum seeking control to iteratively auto‐tune the feedback gains. We analyze the stability of the whole controller, that is, the robust nonlinear controller combined with the multi‐parametric extremum seeking model‐free learning algorithm. We use numerical tests to demonstrate the performance of this method on a mechatronics example. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A robust economic MPC for changing economic criterion

This note presents a robust economic model predictive control controller suitable for changing economic criterion. The proposal ensures feasibility under any change of the economic criterion, thanks to the use of artificial variables and a relaxed terminal constraint, and robustness in presence of additive bounded disturbances. The resulting robust formulation considers a nominal prediction model and restricted constraints (in order to account for the effect of additive disturbances). The controlled system under the proposed controller is shown to be input‐to‐state stable in the sense that it is asymptotically steered to an invariant region around the best admissible steady state. An illustrative example shows the benefits and the properties of the proposed controller.     

Robust model predictive control for constrained continuous-time nonlinear systems

In this paper, a robust model predictive control (MPC) is designed for a class of constrained continuous-time nonlinear systems with bounded additive disturbances. The robust MPC consists of a nonlinear feedback control and a continuous-time model-based dual-mode MPC. The nonlinear feedback control guarantees the actual trajectory being contained in a tube centred at the nominal trajectory. The dual-mode MPC is designed to ensure asymptotic convergence of the nominal trajectory to zero. This paper extends current results on discrete-time model-based tube MPC and linear system model-based tube MPC to continuous-time nonlinear model-based tube MPC. The feasibility and robustness of the proposed robust MPC have been demonstrated by theoretical analysis and applications to a cart-damper springer system and a one-link robot manipulator.     

Robust output tracking control of a laboratory helicopter for automatic landing

In this paper, robust output tracking control problem of a laboratory helicopter for automatic landing in high seas is investigated. The motion of the helicopter is required to synchronise with that of an oscillating platform, e.g. the deck of a vessel subject to wave-induced motions. A robust linear time-invariant output feedback controller consisting of a nominal controller and a robust compensator is designed. The robust compensator is introduced to restrain the influences of parametric uncertainties, nonlinearities and external disturbances. It is shown that robust stability and robust tracking property can be achieved simultaneously. Experimental results on the laboratory helicopter for automatic landing demonstrate the effectiveness of the designed control approach.     

Robust nonovershooting tracking control for fractional‐order systems

A robust tracking control is proposed for the fractional‐order systems (FOSs) to achieve a tracking response with no overshoot, even in the presence of a class of disturbances. The control proposed makes use of a newly designed integral sliding mode technique for FOSs, which is capable of rejecting the bounded disturbances acting through the input channel. The proposed integral sliding mode control design has two components: a nominal control component and a discontinuous control component. The overshoot in the system response is avoided by the nominal control designed with the use of Moore's eigenstructure assignment algorithm. The sliding mode technique is used for the design of discontinuous part of the control that imparts the desired robustness properties.     

Adaptive feedback linearizing control of nonholonomic wheeled mobile robots in presence of parametric and nonparametric uncertainties

In this paper, the integrated kinematic and dynamic trajectory tracking control problem of wheeled mobile robots (WMRs) is addressed. An adaptive robust tracking controller for WMRs is proposed to cope with both parametric and nonparametric uncertainties in the robot model. At first, an adaptive nonlinear control law is designed based on input–output feedback linearization technique to get asymptotically exact cancellation of the parametric uncertainty in the WMR parameters. The designed adaptive feedback linearizing controller is modified by two methods to increase the robustness of the controller: (1) a leakage modification is applied to modify the integral action of the adaptation law and (2) the second modification is an adaptive robust controller, which is included to the linear control law in the outer loop of the adaptive feedback linearizing controller. The adaptive robust controller is designed such that it estimates the unknown constants of an upper bounding function of the uncertainty due to friction, disturbances and unmodeled dynamics. Finally, the proposed controller is developed for a type (2, 0) WMR and simulations are carried out to illustrate the robustness and tracking performance of the controller.     

Robust adaptive control for greenhouse climate using neural networks

This paper presents a general framework for robust adaptive neural network (NN)‐based feedback linearization controller design for greenhouse climate system. The controller is based on the well‐known feedback linearization, combined with radial basis functions NNs, which allows the feedback linearization technique to be used in an adaptive way. In addition, a robust sliding mode control is incorporated to deal with the bounded disturbances and the approximation errors of NNs. As a result, an inherently nonlinear robust adaptive control law is obtained, which not only provides fast and accurate tracking of varying set‐points, but also guarantees asymptotic tracking even if there are inherent approximation errors. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

一种机器人轨迹的鲁棒跟踪控制

把基于拉格朗日方程的n关节机器人动力学模型,转化成了一线性状态方程.基于这种线性状态方程,利用李雅普诺夫函数方法分别针对机器人标称模型和有外界不确定性干扰时,设计前馈控制器和反馈控制器,使得机器人的实际运动轨迹在标称模型下,指数收敛于所给定的期望运动轨迹;在有外界不确定性干扰时,它与期望轨迹的误差是终值有界的.并且,针对后者所提出的控制律进行仿真.仿真结果表明,这种连续鲁棒控制律对于机器人系统存在外界不确定性干扰时是十分有效的.