Robust control of saturating systems with Markovian packet dropouts under distributed MPC

In this work, a robust control methodology is presented for saturating systems with packet dropouts under distributed model predictive control framework. The sequence of time instants when data dropout happens is modeled by a Markov chain. A packet dropout compensation strategy and an augmented Markov jump linear model are considered simultaneously. To design distributed model predictive controllers, the entire system is decomposed into coupled subsystems. Considering the influences of neighbor subsystems, a distributed predictive control synthesis involving packet dropouts and Markovian probabilities is developed by minimizing the worst-case performance index at each time instant. The input saturation constraints are also incorporated into the robust controller design under distributed model predictive control framework. Furthermore, both the recursive feasibility of the proposed robust control under distributed model predictive control and the closed-loop mean-square stability are proved. To show the effectiveness, the proposed methodology is validated by simulations on a continuous stirred tank reactor process and a DC control system.     

Distributed fault-tolerant model predictive control for intermittent fault: A cooperative way

For intermittent actuator faults of large-scale system, a cooperative distributed fault-tolerant model predictive control (DFTMPC) is presented. The actuator plug and play strategy is adopted in the interconnected systems with physical coupling making fault estimation and controller redesign unnecessary. The actuator plug and play process is modeled as a distributed switching model, and there a theoretical stability analysis is provided with switching form of model predictive control (MPC) cost functions. The novel cooperative distributed fault-tolerant performance index is raised in a global view for distributed model predictive control. A simulation example is taken to show the e?ectiveness of the proposed method.     

Distributed model predictive control for constrained nonlinear systems with decoupled local dynamics

This paper considers the distributed model predictive control (MPC) of nonlinear large-scale systems with dynamically decoupled subsystems. According to the coupled state in the overall cost function of centralized MPC, the neighbors are confirmed and fixed for each subsystem, and the overall objective function is disassembled into each local optimization. In order to guarantee the closed-loop stability of distributed MPC algorithm, the overall compatibility constraint for centralized MPC algorithm is decomposed into each local controller. The communication between each subsystem and its neighbors is relatively low, only the current states before optimization and the optimized input variables after optimization are being transferred. For each local controller, the quasi-infinite horizon MPC algorithm is adopted, and the global closed-loop system is proven to be exponentially stable.     

Distributed model reference adaptive containment control of heterogeneous uncertain multi-agent systems

In this paper, a distributed model reference adaptive control (MRAC) design framework is proposed for containment control of heterogeneous uncertain multi-agent systems (MAS). Both groups of leaders and followers are considered to have general linear dynamics with the leaders subject to bounded external inputs and the followers subject to uncertain system dynamics. Two distributed adaptive control protocols are developed under this framework. The first protocol assumes measurable leaders’ input signals for a subset of the followers, and employs distributed observers with state-feedback adaptive controllers to achieve exact containment control performance. The second protocol incorporates robust adaptive control with nonlinear compensator techniques to handle a more challenging scenario of unmeasurable bounded leaders’ inputs. Convergence of the containment control errors to an arbitrarily adjustable neighborhood of the origin is guaranteed with the second protocol. The proposed MRAC framework provides a promising alternative solution over the prevailing cooperative output regulation framework for heterogeneous linear MAS containment control. It enables us to handle more general system settings under more stringent control environments with limited accessibility of leaders’ information and uncertain follower dynamics. Effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed approaches are demonstrated through extensive simulation studies, including an application to containment control of multiple nonholonomic mobile robots.     

A distributed model predictive control based load frequency control scheme for multi-area interconnected power system using discrete-time Laguerre functions

This paper proposes a distributed model predictive control based load frequency control (MPC-LFC) scheme to improve control performances in the frequency regulation of power system. In order to reduce the computational burden in the rolling optimization with a sufficiently large prediction horizon, the orthonormal Laguerre functions are utilized to approximate the predicted control trajectory. The closed-loop stability of the proposed MPC scheme is achieved by adding a terminal equality constraint to the online quadratic optimization and taking the cost function as the Lyapunov function. Furthermore, the treatments of some typical constraints in load frequency control have been studied based on the specific Laguerre-based formulations. Simulations have been conducted in two different interconnected power systems to validate the effectiveness of the proposed distributed MPC-LFC as well as its superiority over the comparative methods.     

Stabilizing model predictive control for constrained nonlinear distributed delay systems

In this paper, a model predictive control scheme with guaranteed closed-loop asymptotic stability is proposed for a class of constrained nonlinear time-delay systems with discrete and distributed delays. A suitable terminal cost functional and also an appropriate terminal region are utilized to achieve asymptotic stability. To determine the terminal cost, a locally asymptotically stabilizing controller is designed and an appropriate Lyapunov-Krasoskii functional of the locally stabilized system is employed as the terminal cost. Furthermore, an invariant set for locally stabilized system which is established by using the Razumikhin Theorem is used as the terminal region. Simple conditions are derived to obtain terminal cost and terminal region in terms of Bilinear Matrix Inequalities. The method is illustrated by a numerical example.     

Constrained off-line synthesis approach of model predictive control for networked control systems with network-induced delays

This paper investigates the off-line synthesis approach of model predictive control (MPC) for a class of networked control systems (NCSs) with network-induced delays. A new augmented model which can be readily applied to time-varying control law, is proposed to describe the NCS where bounded deterministic network-induced delays may occur in both sensor to controller (S–A) and controller to actuator (C–A) links. Based on this augmented model, a sufficient condition of the closed-loop stability is derived by applying the Lyapunov method. The off-line synthesis approach of model predictive control is addressed using the stability results of the system, which explicitly considers the satisfaction of input and state constraints. Numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Distributed coordinated attitude tracking control for spacecraft formation with communication delays

This paper investigates the distributed coordinated attitude tracking control problem for spacecraft formation with time-varying communication delays under the condition that the dynamic leader spacecraft is a neighbor of only a subset of follower spacecrafts. We consider two cases for the leader spacecraft: i) the attitude derivative is constant, and ii) the attitude derivative is time-varying. In the first case, a distributed estimator is proposed for each follower spacecraft by using its neighbors’ information with communication delays. In the second case, to express the dynamic leader’s attitude, an improved distributed observer is developed to estimate the leader’s information. Based on the estimated values, adaptive coordinated attitude tracking control laws are designed to compensate for parametric uncertainties and unknown disturbances. By employing the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional approach, the attitude tracking errors and estimation errors are proven to converge to zero asymptotically. Numerical simulations are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of theoretical results.     

Distributed adaptive neural networks leader-following formation control for quadrotors with directed switching topologies

The leader-following formation problem is discussed for a team of quadrotors under directed switching topologies. To obtain a more general dynamic model, we describe the quadrotor system in a non-affine pure-feedback form with mismatched unknown nonlinearities. By employing an adaptive neural networks state observer to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions and to reconstruct the immeasurable inner states, we propose a novel distributed output feedback formation control protocol with the backstepping method combining with the dynamic surface control technique. From the Lyapunov stability theorem, all signals in the closed-loop formation system are proven to be cooperatively semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded for any given bounded initial conditions. Finally, we proved that we verify the performance of the proposed formation control approach by a simulation study.     

Distributed and decentralized state estimation in gas networks as distributed parameter systems

In this paper, a framework for distributed and decentralized state estimation in high-pressure and long-distance gas transmission networks (GTNs) is proposed. The non-isothermal model of the plant including mass, momentum and energy balance equations are used to simulate the dynamic behavior. Due to several disadvantages of implementing a centralized Kalman filter for large-scale systems, the continuous/discrete form of extended Kalman filter for distributed and decentralized estimation (DDE) has been extended for these systems. Accordingly, the global model is decomposed into several subsystems, called local models. Some heuristic rules are suggested for system decomposition in gas pipeline networks. In the construction of local models, due to the existence of common states and interconnections among the subsystems, the assimilation and prediction steps of the Kalman filter are modified to take the overlapping and external states into account. However, dynamic Riccati equation for each subsystem is constructed based on the local model, which introduces a maximum error of 5% in the estimated standard deviation of the states in the benchmarks studied in this paper. The performance of the proposed methodology has been shown based on the comparison of its accuracy and computational demands against their counterparts in centralized Kalman filter for two viable benchmarks. In a real life network, it is shown that while the accuracy is not significantly decreased, the real-time factor of the state estimation is increased by a factor of 10.     

Distributed optimal coordination control for nonlinear multi-agent systems using event-triggered adaptive dynamic programming method

This paper is concerned with the design of distributed optimal coordination control for nonlinear multi-agent systems (NMASs) based on event-triggered adaptive dynamic programming (ETADP) method. The method is firstly introduced to design the distributed coordination controllers for NMASs, which not only avoids the transmission of redundant data compared with traditional time-triggered adaptive dynamic programming (TTADP) strategy and minimizes the performance function of each agent. The event-triggered conditions are proposed based on Lyapunov functional method, which is deduced by guaranteeing the stability of NMASs. Then a new adaptive policy iteration algorithm is presented to obtain the online solutions of the Hamiton–Jocabi–Bellman (HJB) equations. In order to implement the proposed ETADP method, the fuzzy hyperbolic model based critic neural networks (NN) are utilized to approximate the value functions and help calculate the control policies. In critic NNs, the NN weight estimations are updated at the event-triggered instants leading to aperiodic weight tuning laws so that computation cost is reduced. It is proved that the weight estimation errors and the local neighborhood coordination errors is uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB). Finally, two simulation examples are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed ETADP method.     

Robust tracking and distributed synchronization control of a multi-motor servomechanism with H-infinity performance

The multi-motor servomechanism (MMS) is a multi-variable, high coupling and nonlinear system, which makes the controller design challenging. In this paper, an adaptive robust H-infinity control scheme is proposed to achieve both the load tracking and multi-motor synchronization of MMS. This control scheme consists of two parts: a robust tracking controller and a distributed synchronization controller. The robust tracking controller is constructed by incorporating a neural network (NN) K-filter observer into the dynamic surface control, while the distributed synchronization controller is designed by combining the mean deviation coupling control strategy with the distributed technique. The proposed control scheme has several merits: 1) by using the mean deviation coupling synchronization control strategy, the tracking controller and the synchronization controller can be designed individually without any coupling problem; 2) the immeasurable states and unknown nonlinearities are handled by a NN K-filter observer, where the number of NN weights is largely reduced by using the minimal learning parameter technique; 3) the H-infinity performances of tracking error and synchronization error are guaranteed by introducing a robust term into the tracking controller and the synchronization controller, respectively. The stabilities of the tracking and synchronization control systems are analyzed by the Lyapunov theory. Simulation and experimental results based on a four-motor servomechanism are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

A consensus-based multi-agent approach for estimation in robust fault detection

This paper is devoted to distributed estimation in robust fault detection for sensor networks with networked-induced delays and packet dropouts by using a consensus-based multi-agent approach. Utilizing the information interaction and coordination among the neighboring networks based on multi-agent theory, we design novel and multiple agent-based robust fault detection filters (RFDFs) subject to only partial estimated and measured information. Asymptotically stable sufficient conditions for the innovative constructed filters are derived in the form of linear matrix inequality (LMI) and the threshold fit for each agent-based RFDF is determined. An illustrative example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the consensus-based multi-agent approach for the estimation in robust fault detection.     

具有状态约束的电液伺服系统模型参考鲁棒自适应控制

针对电液伺服系统中的模型不确定性和状态约束问题,设计了一种模型参考鲁棒自适应控制(MRRAC)方法。将电液伺服系统的近似模型作为模型预测控制(MPC)的设计对象,在设计过程中考虑状态约束,并生成受约束的状态期望,作为后续伺服控制方法的参考指令。为了克服液压系统中的模型不确定性,基于反步法设计了鲁棒自适应控制器(RAC),实现了兼顾模型不确定性和状态约束的伺服控制。基于Lyapunov稳定性理论证明了所设计控制策略的闭环渐近稳定性,且系统所有信号均有界。仿真结果表明,控制器对于系统模型不确定性具有较强的鲁棒性,且可实现对指定状态的有效约束,充分验证了该控制策略的有效性。     

Robust adaptive tracking control for nonholonomic mobile manipulator with uncertainties

In this paper, mobile manipulator is divided into two subsystems, that is, nonholonomic mobile platform subsystem and holonomic manipulator subsystem. First, the kinematic controller of the mobile platform is derived to obtain a desired velocity. Second, regarding the coupling between the two subsystems as disturbances, Lyapunov functions of the two subsystems are designed respectively. Third, a robust adaptive tracking controller is proposed to deal with the unknown upper bounds of parameter uncertainties and disturbances. According to the Lyapunov stability theory, the derived robust adaptive controller guarantees global stability of the closed-loop system, and the tracking errors and adaptive coefficient errors are all bounded. Finally, simulation results show that the proposed robust adaptive tracking controller for nonholonomic mobile manipulator is effective and has good tracking capacity.     

Asynchronous update based networked predictive control system using a novel proactive compensation strategy

Networked predictive control system (NPCS) has been proposed to address random delays and data dropouts in networked control systems (NCSs). A remaining challenge of this approach is that the controller has uncertain information about the actual control inputs, which leads to the predicted control input errors. The main contribution of this paper is to develop an explicit mechanism running in the distributed network nodes asynchronously, which enables the controller node to keep informed of the states of the actuator node without a priori knowledge about the network. Based on this mechanism, a novel proactive compensation strategy is proposed to develop asynchronous update based networked predictive control system (AUBNPCS). The stability criterion of AUBNPCS is derived analytically. A simulation experiment based on Truetime demonstrates the effectiveness of the scheme.     

Iterative learning-based decentralized adaptive tracker for large-scale systems: a digital redesign approach

In this paper, a digital redesign methodology of the iterative learning-based decentralized adaptive tracker is proposed to improve the dynamic performance of sampled-data linear large-scale control systems consisting of N interconnected multi-input multi-output subsystems, so that the system output will follow any trajectory which may not be presented by the analytic reference model initially. To overcome the interference of each sub-system and simplify the controller design, the proposed model reference decentralized adaptive control scheme constructs a decoupled well-designed reference model first. Then, according to the well-designed model, this paper develops a digital decentralized adaptive tracker based on the optimal analog control and prediction-based digital redesign technique for the sampled-data large-scale coupling system. In order to enhance the tracking performance of the digital tracker at specified sampling instants, we apply the iterative learning control (ILC) to train the control input via continual learning. As a result, the proposed iterative learning-based decentralized adaptive tracker not only has robust closed-loop decoupled property but also possesses good tracking performance at both transient and steady state. Besides, evolutionary programming is applied to search for a good learning gain to speed up the learning process of ILC.     

直接驱动型机械手的变结构控制

针对直接驱动型机械手的随动控制问题,提出了一种基于滑动模态扰动观测器的变结构控制器.通过观测由系统的非线性、模型的不确定性和外来干扰所造成的广义扰动,将非线性、强耦合的机械手动力学系统线性化,并解耦为多个单输入、单输出线性系统.控制器的设计不再依赖于机械手的精确模型.在二连杆机械手上做的仿真研究表明,在负载大范围变化的条件下,采用滑动模态扰动观测器的控制系统,比全状态反馈的控制系统具有更好的鲁棒性.     

Robust model predictive control for switched linear systems

Developed is a robust model predictive control scheme for a class of discrete-time switched linear systems. The system is described in linear fractional transformation form in the presence of model uncertainty and induced norm bounded disturbances. The objective is to minimize the upper bound of an infinite horizon cost function subject to a terminal inequality. A Lyapunov function analysis for the switched system shows guaranteed closed-loop stability. Taking into account the switching structure of the system, the predictive control design problem along with sufficient conditions for the existence of a solution is expressed in terms of Riccati–Metzler inequalities. Then, these inequalities are turned into a linear matrix inequality feasibility problem. Three cases are analyzed to demonstrate the performance and effectiveness of the proposed robust model predictive controller for switched discrete-time linear systems.     

Delay-tolerant distributed voltage control for multiple smart loads in AC microgrids

With increasing penetration of variable loads and intermittent distributed energy resources (DERs) with uncertainty and variability in distribution systems, the power system gradually inherits some features (e.g., lack of rotating inertia), which leads to the voltage instability in microgrids. As a means to provide stability support for smart grid against high penetration of intermittent DERs, inverter-based smart loads across the distribution grid has been suggested recently. Accordingly, this paper presents a delay-tolerant distributed voltage control scheme based on consensus protocol for multiple-cooperative smart loads through effective demand-side management in ac microgrids, in which the time-delay effect on transmission communication occurred in information exchanges is considered. The proposed distributed voltage control scheme always enables the output voltage of each smart load to be synchronized to their reference value, which improves the robustness of system stability against transmission communication delays. The Lyapunov–Krasovskii functions are employed to analyze the stability of our proposed distributed control scheme, then the delay-independent stability conditions are derived, which allows some large communication delays. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis is developed to show how the time delay affects system dynamics in order to validate the robustness of proposed delay-independent stability conditions. Furthermore, a sparse communication network is employed to implement the proposed distributed control protocols, which thus satisfies the plug-and-play requirement of smart microgrids. Finally, the simulation results of an ac microgrid in MATLAB/SimPowerSystems are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control methodology.