Robust stabilisation of nonlinear plants via left coprime factorizations

In this paper we take steps towards the development of a robust stabilization theory for nonlinear plants. An approach using the left coprime factorizations of the plant and controller under certain differential boundedness assumptions is used. We first focus attention on a characterization of the class of all stabilizing nonlinear controllers K_Q for a nonlinear plant G, parameterized in terms of an arbitrary stable (nonlinear) operator Q. Also, we consider the dual class of all plants G_S stabilized by a given nonlinear controller K and parameterized in terms of an arbitrary stable (nonlinear) operator S. We show that a necessary and sufficient condition for K_Q to stabilize G_S with Q, S not necessarily stable, is that S stabilizes Q. This robust stabilization result is of interest for the solution of problems in the areas of nonlinear adaptive control and simultaneous stabilization. It specializes to known results for linear operators.     

Rates of A-statistical convergence of approximating operators

Abstract Using the concepts of rates of statistical convergence we investigate approximation properties of positive linear operators defined on the space C[0,b], 0<b<1, which includes many well-known operators in approximation theory. We also use the modulus of continuity and Lipschitz functions.     

The parallel projection operators of a nonlinear feedback system

This paper defines and studies a pair of nonlinear parallel projection operators associated with a nonlinear feedback system. These operators have been seen to play an important role in the robustness and design of linear systems especially in the theory of the gap metric, the use of weighted gaps in control system design and Glover-McFarlane loop-shaping. We show that the input-output L₂-stability of a feedback system amounts to a ‘coordinatization’ of the input and output spaces, which is also equivalent to the existence of a pair of nonlinear parallel projection operators onto the graph of the plant and the inverse graph of the controller respectively. These projections are shown to have equal norms whenever one of the feedback elements is linear. A bound on this norm is given in the case of passive systems with unity negative feedback.     

Nonlinear H∞ observer design for one‐sided Lipschitz discrete‐time singular systems with time‐varying delay

This paper investigates the H_∞ observer design problem for a class of nonlinear discrete‐time singular systems with time‐varying delays and disturbance inputs. The nonlinear systems can be rectangular and the nonlinearities satisfy the one‐sided Lipschitz condition and quadratically inner‐bounded condition, which are more general than the traditional Lipschitz condition. By appropriately dealing with these two conditions and applying several important inequalities, a linear matrix inequality–based approach for the nonlinear observer design is proposed. The resulting nonlinear H_∞ observer guarantees asymptotic stability of the estimation error dynamics with a prescribed performance γ. The synthesis condition of H_∞ observer design for nonlinear discrete‐time singular systems without time delays is also presented. The design is first addressed for one‐sided Lipschitz discrete‐time singular systems. Finally, two numerical examples are given to show the effectiveness of the present approach.     

Integral-type generalizations of operators obtained from certain multivariate polynomials

Abstract In this work, we mainly focus on the Kantorovich-type (integral-type) generalizations of the positive linear operators obtained from the Chan-Chyan-Srivastava multivariable polynomials. Using the notion of A-statistical convergence, we obtain various approximation theorems including a statistical Korovkin-type result and rates of A-statistical convergence with the help of the modulus of continuity, Lipschitz class functionals and Peetre’s K-functionals. We also introduce an sth order generalization of our approximating operators. Keywords. Chan-Chyan-Srivastava multivariable polynomials, Korovkin approximation theorem, Kantorovich-type operators, A-statistical convergence, modulus of continuity, Lipschitz class functional, Peetre’s K-functional Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): Primary: 41A25; 41A36, Secondary: 33C45     

Spectral properties of infinite-dimensional closed-loop systems

We consider feedback systems obtained from infinite-dimensional well-posed linear systems by output feedback. Thus, our framework allows for unbounded control and observation operators. Our aim is to investigate the relationship between the open-loop system, the feedback operator K and the spectrum (in particular, the eigenvalues and eigenvectors) of the closed-loop generator A^K. We give a useful characterization of that part of the spectrum σ(A^K) which lies in the resolvent set of A, the open-loop generator, via the “characteristic equation” involving the open-loop transfer function. We show that certain points of σ(A) cannot be eigenvalues of A^K if the input and output are scalar (so that K is a number) and K≠0. We devote special attention to the case when the output feedback operator K is compact. It is relatively easy to prove that in this case, σ_e(A), the essential spectrum of A, is invariant, that is, it is equal to σ_e(A^K). A related but much harder problem is to determine the largest subset of σ(A) which remains invariant under compact output feedback. This set, which we call the immovable spectrum of A, strictly contains σ_e(A). We give an explicit characterization of the immovable spectrum and we investigate the consequences of our results for a certain class of well-posed systems obtained by interconnecting an infinite chain of identical systems.     

LMI optimization approach to robust H∞ observer design and static output feedback stabilization for discrete‐time nonlinear uncertain systems

A new approach for the design of robust H_∞ observers for a class of Lipschitz nonlinear systems with time‐varying uncertainties is proposed based on linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). The admissible Lipschitz constant of the system and the disturbance attenuation level are maximized simultaneously through convex multiobjective optimization. The resulting H_∞ observer guarantees asymptotic stability of the estimation error dynamics and is robust against nonlinear additive uncertainty and time‐varying parametric uncertainties. Explicit norm‐wise and element‐wise bounds on the tolerable nonlinear uncertainty are derived. Also, a new method for the robust output feedback stabilization with H_∞ performance for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems is proposed. Our solution is based on a noniterative LMI optimization and is less restrictive than the existing solutions. The bounds on the nonlinear uncertainty and multiobjective optimization obtained for the observer are also applicable to the proposed static output feedback stabilizing controller. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Separation principle for quasi‐one‐sided Lipschitz nonlinear systems with time delay

In this article, we address the problem of output stabilization for a class of nonlinear time‐delay systems. First, an observer is designed for estimating the state of nonlinear time‐delay systems by means of quasi‐one‐sided Lipschitz condition, which is less conservative than the one‐sided Lipschitz condition. Then, a state feedback controller is designed to stabilize the nonlinear systems in terms of weak quasi‐one‐sided Lipschitz condition. Furthermore, it is shown that the separation principle holds for stabilization of the systems based on the observer‐based controller. Under the quasi‐one‐sided Lipschitz condition, state observer and feedback controller can be designed separately even though the parameter (A,C) of nonlinear time‐delay systems is not detectable and parameter (A,B) is not stabilizable. Finally, a numerical example is provided to verify the efficiency of the main results.     

H ∞ observer design for uncertain nonlinear discrete‐time systems with time‐delay: LMI optimization approach

We present a robust H _∞ observer for a class of nonlinear discrete‐time systems. The class under study includes an unknown time‐varying delay limited by upper and lower bounds, as well as time‐varying parametric uncertainties. We design a nonlinear H _∞ observer, by using the upper and lower bounds of the delay, that guarantees asymptotic stability of the estimation error dynamics and is also robust against time‐varying parametric uncertainties. The described problem is converted to a standard optimization problem, which can be solved in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Then, we expand the problem to a multi‐objective optimization problem in which the maximum admissible Lipschitz constant and the minimum disturbance attenuation level are the problem objectives. Finally, the proposed observer is illustrated with two examples. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multiple Lyapunov functions approach to observer-based H ∞ control for switched systems

This article investigates the issue of H _∞ control for a class of continuous-time switched Lipschitz nonlinear systems. None of the individual subsystems is assumed to be stabilisable with H _∞ disturbance attenuation. Based on a generalised multiple Lyapunov functions (GMLFs) approach, which removes the nonincreasing requirement at switching points, a sufficient condition for the solvability of the H _∞ control problem under a state estimation-dependent switching law is presented. Observers, controllers and a switching law are simultaneously designed. As an extension, a sufficient condition for exponential stabilisability is also given.     

On lp-stabilization of strictly unstable discrete-time linear systems with saturating actuators

For a continuous-time linear system with saturating actuators, it is known that, irrespective of the locations of the open-loop poles, both global and semi-global finite gain L_p-stabilization are achievable, by nonlinear and linear feedback, respectively, and the L_p gain can also be made arbitrarily small. In this paper we show that, these results do not hold for discrete-time systems. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Boundary control,stabilization and zero-pole dynamics for a non-linear distributed parameter system

In this work we show that the now standard lumped non-linear enhancement of root-locus design still persists for a non-linear distributed parameter boundary control system governed by a scalar viscous Burgers' equation. Namely, we construct a proportional error boundary feedback control law and show that closed-loop trajectories tend to trajectories of the open-loop zero dynamics as the gain parameters are increased to infinity. We also prove a robust version of this result, valid for perturbations by an unknown disturbance with arbitrary L² norm. For the controlled Burgers' equation forced by a disturbance we prove that, for all initial data in L²(0, 1), the closed-loop trajectories converge in L²(0, 1), uniformly in t∈[0, T] and in H¹(0, 1), uniformly in t∈[t₀, T] for any t₀>0, to the trajectories of the corresponding perturbed zero dynamics. We have also extended these results to include the case when additional boundary controls are included in the closed-loop system. This provides a proof of convergence of trajectories in case the zero dynamics is replaced by a non-homogeneous Dirichlet boundary controlled Burgers' equation. As an application of our convergence of trajectories results, we demonstrate that our boundary feedback control scheme provides a semiglobal exponential stabilizing feedback law in L², H¹ and L^∞ for the open-loop system consisting of Burgers' equation with Neumann boundary conditions and zero forcing term. We also show that this result is robust in the sense that if the open-loop system is perturbed by a sufficiently small non-zero disturbance then the resulting closed-loop system is ‘practically semiglobally stabilizable’ in L²-norm. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On Assigning the Derivative of a Disturbance Attenuation Control Lyapunov Function

We consider feedback design for nonlinear, multi-input affine control systems with disturbances and present results on assigning, by choice of feedback, a desirable upper bound to a given control Lyapunov function (clf) candidate's derivative along closed-loop trajectories. Specific choices for the upper bound are motivated by ℒ₂ and ℒ_∞ disturbance attenuation problems. The main result leads to corollaries on “backstepping” locally Lipschitz disturbance attenuation control laws that are perhaps implicitly defined through a locally Lipschitz equation. The results emphasize that only rough information about the clf is needed to synthesize a suitable controller. A dynamic control strategy for linear systems with bounded controls is discussed in detail. Date received: March 27, 1998. Date revised: March 11, 1999.     

The complexity of model classes, and smoothing noisy data

We consider the problem of smoothing a sequence of noisy observations using a fixed class of models. Via a deterministic analysis, we obtain necessary and sufficient conditions on the noise sequence and model class that ensure that a class of natural estimators gives near-optimal smoothing. In the case of i.i.d. random noise, we show that the accuracy of these estimators depends on a measure of complexity of the model class involving covering numbers. Our formulation and results are quite general and are related to a number of problems in learning, prediction, and estimation. As a special case, we consider an application to output smoothing for certain classes of linear and nonlinear systems. The performance of output smoothing is given in terms of natural complexity parameters of the model class, such as bounds on the order of linear systems, the l₁-norm of the impulse response of stable linear systems, or the memory of a Lipschitz nonlinear system satisfying a fading memory condition.     

Open-loop stabilizability of infinite-dimensional systems

In this paper we study open-loop stabilizability, a general notion of stabilizability for linear differential equations =Ax+Bu in an infinite-dimensional state space. This notion is sufficiently general to be implied by exact controllability, by optimizability, and by various general definitions of closedloop stabilizability. Here,A is the generator of a strongly continuous semigroup, and we make very few a priori restrictions on the class of controlsu. Our results hinge upon the control operatorB being smoothly left-invertible, which is a very mild restriction when the input space is finite-dimensional. Since open-loop stabilizability is a weak concept, lack of open-loop stability is quites strong. A focus of this paper is to give necessary conditions for open-loop stabilizability, thus identifying classes of systems which are not open-loops stabilizable. First we give useful frequency domain conditions that are equivalent to our definitions of open-loop stabilizability, and lead to a version of the Hautus test for open-loop stabilizability. When the input space is finite-dimensional, we give necessary conditions for open-loop stabilizability which involve spectral properties ofA. We show that these results are not true if the conditions onB are weakened. We obtain analogous results for discrete-time systems. We show that, for a class of systems without spectrum determined growth, optimizability is impossible. Finally, we show that a system is open-loop stabilizable with a class of controlu if and only if the system with the sameA but a more boundedB is open-loop stabilizable with a larger class of controls. This work was partially supported by NSF Grant DMS-9623392.     

基于伪谱法的自由采样实时最优反馈控制及应用

利用高斯伪谱法收敛速率快、精度高的特点,基于通用伪谱优化软件包在线求解非线性系统的最优控制问题.将伪谱反馈控制理论与非线性最优控制理论结合起来,给出了一种自由采样实时最优反馈控制算法,该算法通过连续在线生成开环最优控制的方式提供闭环反馈.考虑计算误差、模型参数不确定性和干扰的作用,假定系统状态方程右侧的非线性向量函数关于状态、控制和系统参数是Lipschitz连续的,利用Bellman最优性原理对闭环控制系统的有界稳定性进行了分析和理论证明.最后,以高超声速再入飞行器为应用对象,研究了其再入制导问题,仿真结果验证了该算法的可行性和有效性.     

Efficient numerical solution of Neumann problems on complicated domains

Abstract We consider elliptic partial differential equations with Neumann boundary conditions on complicated domains. The discretization is performed by composite finite elements. The a priori error analysis typically is based on precise knowledge of the regularity of the solution. However, the constants in the regularity estimates possibly depend critically on the geometric details of the domain and the analysis of their quantitative influence is rather involved. Here, we consider a polyhedral Lipschitz domain Ω with a possibly huge number of geometric details ranging from size O(ε) to O(1). We assume that Ω is a perturbation of a simpler Lipschitz domain Ω. We prove error estimates where only the regularity of the partial differential equation on Ω is needed along with bounds on the norm of extension operators which are explicit in appropriate geometric parameters. Since composite finite elements allow a multiscale discretization of problems on complicated domains, the linear system which arises can be solved by a simple multi-grid method. We show that this method converges at an optimal rate independent of the geometric structure of the problem.     

Improved PID controller design for unstable time delay processes based on direct synthesis method and maximum sensitivity

In this paper, a proportional-integral-derivative controller in series with a lead-lag filter is designed for control of the open-loop unstable processes with time delay based on direct synthesis method. Study of the performance of the designed controllers has been carried out on various unstable processes. Set-point weighting is considered to reduce the undesirable overshoot. The proposed scheme consists of only one tuning parameter, and systematic guidelines are provided for selection of the tuning parameter based on the peak value of the sensitivity function (M_s). Robustness analysis has been carried out based on sensitivity and complementary sensitivity functions. Nominal and robust control performances are achieved with the proposed method and improved closed-loop performances are obtained when compared to the recently reported methods in the literature.     

An algorithm for the computer simulation of very large dynamic systems

An algorithm for integrating high dimensional stiff nonlinear differential equations of the type , x(t₀)=x₀, where u(t) is a specified time function, f(x, t) is a nonlinear function with a small Lipschitz constant and A is a matrix whose eigenvalues are widely distributed is given. The proposed algorithm has a truncation error of 0(h₅) where h is the step-size, is numerically stable for any h provided the original system is stable and the Lipschitz constant is small enough, will give exact steady-state solutions for constant input systems for any h, and is especially suited to those systems in which the order n of the system is large, for example, n 10. Some numerical examples varying from 10th to 80th order are included and a comparison of the computation time required by the proposed method is made with other algorithms—the Runge-Kutta method, and Gear's method. It is found that the proposed algorithm is approximately 10 times faster than Gear's method for the 80th order example.     

Control of 1-D parabolic PDEs with Volterra nonlinearities, Part I: Design

Boundary control of nonlinear parabolic PDEs is an open problem with applications that include fluids, thermal, chemically-reacting, and plasma systems. In this paper we present stabilizing control designs for a broad class of nonlinear parabolic PDEs in 1-D. Our approach is a direct infinite dimensional extension of the finite-dimensional feedback linearization/backstepping approaches and employs spatial Volterra series nonlinear operators both in the transformation to a stable linear PDE and in the feedback law. The control law design consists of solving a recursive sequence of linear hyperbolic PDEs for the gain kernels of the spatial Volterra nonlinear control operator. These PDEs evolve on domains T_n of increasing dimensions n+1 and with a domain shape in the form of a “hyper-pyramid”, 0≤ξ_n≤ξ_n−1?≤ξ₁≤x≤1. We illustrate our design method with several examples. One of the examples is analytical, while in the remaining two examples the controller is numerically approximated. For all the examples we include simulations, showing blow up in open loop, and stabilization for large initial conditions in closed loop. In a companion paper we give a theoretical study of the properties of the transformation, showing global convergence of the transformation and of the control law nonlinear Volterra operators, and explicitly constructing the inverse of the feedback linearizing Volterra transformation; this, in turn, allows us to prove L² and H¹ local exponential stability (with an estimate of the region of attraction where possible) and explicitly construct the exponentially decaying closed loop solutions.