Finite-time coordination in multiagent systems using sliding mode control approach

Finite-time stability in dynamical systems theory involves systems whose trajectories converge to an equilibrium state in finite time. In this paper, we use the notion of finite-time stability to apply it to the problem of coordinated motion in multiagent systems. Specifically, we consider a group of agents described by fully actuated Euler–Lagrange dynamics along with a leader agent with an objective to reach and maintain a desired formation characterized by steady-state distances between the neighboring agents in finite time. We use graph theoretic notions to characterize communication topology in the network determined by the information flow directions and captured by the graph Laplacian matrix. Furthermore, using sliding mode control approach, we design decentralized control inputs for individual agents that use only data from the neighboring agents which directly communicate their state information to the current agent in order to drive the current agent to the desired steady state. Sliding mode control is known to drive the system states to the sliding surface in finite time. The key feature of our approach is in the design of non-smooth sliding surfaces such that, while on the sliding surface, the error states converge to the origin in finite time, thus ensuring finite-time coordination among the agents in the network. In addition, we discuss the case of switching communication topologies in multiagent systems. Finally, we show the efficacy of our theoretical results using an example of a multiagent system involving planar double integrator agents.     

Sliding mode control for Markovian jumping systems with actuator nonlinearities

This article considers the design of sliding mode control for stochastic Markovian jumping systems with actuator nonlinearities. In the design of integral sliding surfaces, a set of specified matrices are employed such that the connections among sliding surfaces corresponding to each mode are established. And then, a sliding mode controller depending on the transition rates is synthesised such that the reachability of the specified sliding surface can be ensured. Moreover, sufficient conditions for the stability of the sliding motions are derived. It is shown that the effect of Markovian switching can be coped with by the present sliding mode control method. Finally, the simulation results illustrating the proposed method are provided.     

Sliding mode control of a class of underactuated systems

A sliding mode control approach is proposed to stabilize a class of underactuated systems which are in cascaded form. This class of underactuated systems can represent many real applications after transformations. In the controller design, the sliding surface is designed to stabilize the indirectly controlled modes. Its insensitivity to the model errors, parametric uncertainties and other disturbances and its ability to globally stabilize the system are two advantages of the sliding mode controller.     

基于快速输出采样反馈的网络控制系统滑模控制

针对网络控制系统的网络诱导时延问题,提出了一种新的滑模控制方法。通过快速采样被控对象输出,建立了具有线性时不变被控对象的网络控制系统的离散模型。在此基础上,用极点配置法给出了滑模切换面参数,设计了输出反馈离散滑模控制器。仿真结果验证了该控制方法的有效性。     

Sliding mode control for multi-agent systems under a time-varying topology

This paper addresses the tracking problem of a class of multi-agent systems under uncertain communication environments which has been modelled by a finite number of constant Laplacian matrices together with their corresponding scheduling functions. Sliding mode control method is applied to solve this nonlinear tracking problem under a time-varying topology. The controller of each tracking agent has been designed by using only its own and neighbours’ information. Sufficient conditions for the existence of a sliding mode control tracking strategy have been provided by the solvability of linear matrix inequalities. At the end of this work, numerical simulations are employed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed sliding mode control tracking strategy.     

Periodic motion planning and control for underactuated mechanical systems

We consider the problem of periodic motion planning and of designing stabilising feedback control laws for such motions in underactuated mechanical systems. A novel periodic motion planning method is proposed. Each state is parametrised by a truncated Fourier series. Then we use numerical optimisation to search for the parameters of the trigonometric polynomial exploiting the measure of discrepancy in satisfying the passive dynamics equations as a performance index. Thus an almost feasible periodic motion is found. Then a linear controller is designed and stability analysis is given to verify that solutions of the closed-loop system stay inside a tube around the planned approximately feasible periodic trajectory. Experimental results for a double rotary pendulum are shown, while numerical simulations are given for models of a spacecraft with liquid sloshing and of a chain of mass spring system.     

一类欠驱动系统的控制方法综述

近年来欠驱动系统已经成为机器人与自动控制领域的研究热点之一,本文对一类欠驱动系统(欠驱动连杆系统)的控制方法的研究状况进行了综述.首先给出了欠驱动系统的动力学模型,并介绍了2种基本控制模式;随后,对其主要的控制方法,包括最优控制方法、运动规划法、部分反馈线性化方法、能量(无源)方法、变量降维法、分级控制设计方法及智能控制方法,展开了分析与讨论;在此基础之上,对欠驱动连杆控制系统设计存在的抗干扰性、实用性及快速性等主要问题进行了简要分析,并就今后的研究方向进行了展望,如鲁棒策略、饱和控制与有限时间控制等.     

Sliding mode control for a class of nonlinear discrete-time networked systems with multiple stochastic communication delays

In this article, a sliding mode control problem is studied for a class of uncertain nonlinear networked systems with multiple communication delays. A sequence of stochastic variables obeying Bernoulli distribution is applied in the system model to describe the randomly occurring communication delays. The discrete-time system considered is also subject to parameter uncertainties and state-dependent stochastic disturbances. A novel discrete switching function is proposed to facilitate the sliding mode controller design. The sufficient conditions are derived by means of the linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach. It is shown that the system dynamics in the specified sliding surface is robustly exponentially stable in the mean square if two LMIs with an equality constraint are feasible. A discrete-time SMC controller is designed that is capable of guaranteeing the discrete-time sliding-mode reaching condition of the specified sliding surface. Finally, a simulation example is given to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Sliding mode control for polytopic differential inclusion systems

The stabilization problem of polytopic differential inclusion (PDI) systems is investigated by using sliding mode control. Sliding surface is designed and sufficient conditions for asymptotic stability of sliding mode dynamics are derived. A novel feedback law is established to make the state of system reach the sliding surface in a finite time. Finally, an example is given to illustrate the validity of the proposed design.     

Sliding mode control of singular stochastic hybrid systems

This paper is concerned with the sliding mode control (SMC) of nonlinear singular stochastic systems with Markovian switching. An integral sliding surface function is designed, and the resulting sliding mode dynamics is a full-order Markovian jump singular stochastic system. By introducing some specified matrices, a new sufficient condition is proposed in terms of strict linear matrix inequality (LMI), which guarantees the stochastic stability of the sliding mode dynamics. Then, a SMC law is synthesized for reaching motion. Moreover, when there exists an external disturbance, the ?₂ disturbance attenuation performance is analyzed for the sliding mode dynamics. Some related sufficient conditions are also established.     

Sliding mode control for Markov jump linear uncertain systems with partly unknown transition rates

In this paper, based on sliding mode control approach, the robust stabilisation problem for a class of continuous-time Markovian jump linear uncertain systems with partly unknown transition rates is investigated. The transition rate matrix under consideration covers completely known, boundary known and completely unknown elements. By making use of linear matrix inequalities technique, sufficient conditions are presented to derive the linear switching surface and guarantee the stochastic stability of sliding mode dynamics. Then a sliding mode control law is designed to drive the state trajectory of the closed-loop system to the specified linear switching surface in finite time in spite of the existing uncertainties and unknown transition rates. Finally, an example is given to verify the validity of the theoretical results.     

Sliding mode dynamics in continuous feedback control for distributed discrete-event scheduling

A continuous feedback control approach for real-time scheduling of discrete events is presented in this paper motivated by the need for control theoretic techniques to analyze and design such systems in distributed manufacturing applications. These continuous feedback control systems exhibit highly nonlinear and discontinuous dynamics. Specifically, when the production demand in the manufacturing system exceeds the available resource capacity then the control system “chatters” and exhibits sliding modes. This sliding mode behavior is advantageously used in the scheduling application by allowing the system to visit different schedules within an infinitesimal region near the sliding surface. In this paper, an analytical model is developed to characterize the sliding mode dynamics. This model is then used to design controllers in the sliding mode domain to improve the effectiveness of the control system to “search” for schedules with good performance. Computational results indicate that the continuous feedback control approach can provide near-optimal schedules and that it is computationally efficient compared to existing scheduling techniques.     

滑模模糊控制应用于自治水下机器人的实验研究

分析了自治水下机器人(AUV)的控制特点, 论述了滑模模糊控制(SMFC)的基本原理, 并在6 000 m自治水下机器人"CR-02"上进行了仿真和水池实验.结果表明,滑模模糊控制的性能明显优于PID控制,在强干扰时表现出良好的鲁棒性.     

Connectivity preservation of second-order nonlinear multiagent systems with hybrid event-driven and time-driven control

In practice, the capability of communication between each pair of agents is within a finite range. This paper investigates how to preserve connectivity for nonlinear multiagent systems while reaching consensus under event-driven control technique. By introducing an appropriate potential function based on the distance of two agents, we can demonstrate that all the agents will not lose connectivity if the initial undirected graph is connected. Furthermore, due to the existence of friction and time delay, we utilise the Young's inequality and a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional to eliminate the negative effects of time delay. The use of impulse functions is considered which can avoid the singularity in the control input. Moreover, the hybrid event-driven and time-driven control technique is utilised to reduce the requirements of communication resources. Finally, numerical simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of our methodology.     

Event-triggered sliding mode control for a class of nonlinear systems

ABSTRACT

Event-triggering strategy is one of the real-time control implementation techniques which aims at achieving minimum resource utilisation while ensuring the satisfactory performance of the closed-loop system. In this paper, we address the problem of robust stabilisation for a class of nonlinear systems subject to external disturbances using sliding mode control (SMC) by event-triggering scheme. An event-triggering scheme is developed for SMC to ensure the sliding trajectory remains confined in the vicinity of sliding manifold. The event-triggered SMC brings the sliding mode in the system and thus the steady-state trajectories of the system also remain bounded within a predesigned region in the presence of disturbances. The design of event parameters is also given considering the practical constraints on control execution. We show that the next triggering instant is larger than its immediate past triggering instant by a given positive constant. The analysis is also presented with taking delay into account in the control updates. An upper bound for delay is calculated to ensure stability of the system. It is shown that with delay steady-state bound of the system is increased than that of the case without delay. However, the system trajectories remain bounded in the case of delay, so stability is ensured. The performance of this event-triggered SMC is demonstrated through a numerical simulation.     

Sliding mode control of switched hybrid systems with stochastic perturbation

This paper is concerned with the sliding mode control (SMC) of a continuous-time switched stochastic system. A sufficient condition for the existence of reduced-order sliding mode dynamics is derived and an explicit parametrization of the desired sliding surface is also given. Then, a sliding mode controller is then synthesized for reaching motion. Moreover, the observer-based SMC problem is also investigated. Some sufficient conditions are established for the existence and the solvability of the desired observer and the observer-based sliding mode controller is synthesized. Finally, numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed theory.     

Robust integral sliding mode control for uncertain stochastic systems with time-varying delay

This paper is concerned with sliding mode control for uncertain stochastic systems with time-varying delay. Both time-varying parameter uncertainties and an unknown nonlinear function may appear in the controlled system. An integral sliding surface is first constructed. Then, by means of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), a sufficient condition is derived to guarantee the global stochastic stability of the stochastic dynamics in the specified switching surface for all admissible uncertainties. The synthesized sliding mode controller guarantees the reachability of the specified sliding surface. Finally, a simulation example is presented to illustrate the proposed method.     

Sliding mode control for Itô stochastic systems with Markovian switching

This paper deals with the problem of sliding mode control (SMC) for a class of nonlinear uncertain stochastic systems with Markovian switching. By introducing some specified matrices, the connections among the designed sliding surfaces corresponding to every mode are established. Furthermore, the present sliding mode controller including the transition rates of modes can cope with the effect of Markovian switching. By means of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) with equality constraint, sufficient conditions are derived such that the sliding motions on the specified sliding surfaces are stochastically stable with γ-disturbance attenuation level. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the applicability of the present method.     

Design of sliding mode control for a class of uncertain switched systems

This paper considers the problem of sliding mode control for a class of uncertain switched systems with parameter uncertainties and external disturbances. A key feature of the controlled system is that each subsystem is not required to share the same input channel, which was usually assumed in some existing works. By means of a weighted sum of the input matrix, a common sliding surface is designed in this work. It is shown that the reachability of the sliding surface can be ensured by the present sliding mode controller. Moreover, the sliding motion on the specified sliding surface is asymptotically stable under the proposed switching signal dependent on the state and time. Additionally, the above results are further extended to the case that the system states are unavailable. Both the sliding surface and sliding mode controller are designed by utilising state-observer. Finally, numerical simulation examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the present method.     

An ontology for commitments in multiagent systems:

Social commitments have long been recognized as an important concept for multiagent systems. We propose a rich formulation of social commitments that motivates an architecture for multiagent systems, which we dub spheres of commitment. We identify the key operations on commitments and multiagent systems. We distinguish between explicit and implicit commitments. Multiagent systems, viewed as spheres of commitment (SoComs), provide the context for the different operations on commitments. Armed with the above ideas, we can capture normative concepts such as obligations, taboos, conventions, and pledges as different kinds of commitments. In this manner, we synthesize ideas from multiagent systems, particularly the idea of social context, with ideas from ethics and legal reasoning, specifically that of directed obligations in the Hohfeldian tradition.