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.     

On hybrid impulsive and switching systems and application to nonlinear control

In this note, a new class of hybrid impulsive and switching models is introduced and their asymptotic stability properties are investigated. Using switched Lyapunov functions, some new general criteria for exponential stability and asymptotic stability with arbitrary and conditioned impulsive switching are established. In addition, a new hybrid impulsive and switching control strategy for nonlinear systems is developed. A typical example, the unified chaotic system, is given to illustrate the theoretical results.     

Hybrid control for a class of underactuated mechanical systems

This paper considers a stabilizing hybrid scheme to control a class of underactuated mechanical systems. The hybrid controller consists of a collection of state feedback controllers plus a discrete-event supervisor. When the continuous-state hits a switching boundary, a new controller is applied to the plant. Lyapunov theory is used to determine the switching boundaries and to guarantee the stability of the closed-loop hybrid system. This approach is applied to the well-known swing up and balancing control problem of the inverted pendulum     

A hybrid model predictive control strategy for nonlinear plant-wide control

A plant-wide control strategy based on integrating linear model predictive control (LMPC) and nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) is proposed. The hybrid method is applicable to plants that can be decomposed into approximately linear subsystems and highly nonlinear subsystems that interact via mass and energy flows. LMPC is applied to the linear subsystems and NMPC is applied to the nonlinear subsystems. A simple controller coordination strategy that counteracts interaction effects is proposed for the case of one linear subsystem and one nonlinear subsystem. A reactor/separator process with recycle is used to compare the hybrid method to conventional LMPC and NMPC techniques.     

A hybrid receding-horizon control scheme for nonlinear systems

A hybrid receding-horizon control scheme for nonlinear discrete-time systems is proposed. Whereas a set of optimal feedback control functions is defined at the continuous level, a discrete-event controller chooses the best control action, depending on the current conditions of a plant and on possible external events. Such a two-level scheme is embedded in the structure of abstract hybrid systems, thus making it possible to prove a new asymptotic stability result for the hybrid receding-horizon control approach.     

Stable control strategy for a second-order nonholonomic planar underactuated mechanical system

This paper presents a stable control strategy for a planar four-link active–passive–active–active (APAA) underactuated mechanical system. The control objective is to move its end-point from any initial position to any target position. First, the controllers are designed to move the first link to the target angle which ensures the target position is within the reachable area of the planar three-link passive–active–active (PAA) system. Meantime, the system is reduced to a planar virtual Pendubot. Then, the periodic controllers are designed based on the nilpotent approximation model to make the first link return to the target angle and all angular velocities converge to zeroes, where the fuzzy modulating is added to adjust the convergence of angular velocities. Thus, the system is reduced to a planar virtual PAA system. Next, the control is divided into two stages, and based on the angle constraint relationships, the target angles of the planar virtual PAA system for the target position are obtained by using the online particle swarm optimisation algorithm. Each stage controllers are designed according to the target angles, so the end-point of the planar APAA system is controlled to the target position. Finally, the validity of the control strategy is demonstrated via simulations.     

A switching robust model predictive control approach for nonlinear systems

This work considers enhancing the stability and improving the economic performance of nonlinear model predictive control in the presence of disturbances or model uncertainties. First, a robust control Lyapunov function (RCLF)-based predictive control strategy is proposed. Second, the approximate dynamic programming (ADP) is employed to further improve regulation performance. Finally, the ADP and RCLF-MPC are combined to provide a switching control scheme, which is illustrated on a CSTR example to show its effectiveness.     

Dynamics and control of a class of underactuated mechanical systems

This paper presents a theoretical framework for the dynamics and control of underactuated mechanical systems, defined as systems with fewer inputs than degrees of freedom. Control system formulation of underactuated mechanical systems is addressed and a class of underactuated systems characterized by nonintegrable dynamics relations is identified. Controllability and stabilizability results are derived for this class of underactuated systems. Examples are included to illustrate the results; these examples are of underactuated mechanical systems that are not linearly controllable or smoothly stabilizable     

A continuous asymptotic tracking control strategy for uncertain nonlinear systems

In this note, we present a new continuous control mechanism that compensates for uncertainty in a class of high-order, multiple-input-multiple-output nonlinear systems. The control strategy is based on limited assumptions on the structure of the system nonlinearities. A new Lyapunov-based stability argument is employed to prove semiglobal asymptotic tracking.     

A benchmark for optimal control problem solvers for hybrid nonlinear systems

In this paper, a benchmark problem is proposed in order to assess comparisons between different optimal control problem solvers for hybrid nonlinear systems. The model is nonlinear with 20 states, 4 continuous controls, 1 discrete binary control and 4 configurations. Transitions between configurations lead to state jumps. The system is inspired by the simulated moving bed, a counter-current separation process.     

一类欠驱动机械系统的全局鲁棒控制

针对具有质心参数不确定性的Acrobot系统,提出一种全局的鲁棒控制方法.首先,给出系统具有质心参数不确定的系统模型;其次在摇起区,分析系统不确定性条件下的能量变化情况,基于能量不断增加的思想设计出摇起控制器;在平衡区,把系统的不确定性转化为模型状态矩阵的不确定性,引入H标准设计方法,得出存在H状态反馈控制器的充要条件,通过求解线性矩阵不等式使系统有效地克服不确定性的影响实现二次稳定;最后通过仿真实验验证了所提方法的有效性.     

A multiple model approach for predictive control of nonlinear hybrid systems

This paper presents modeling and control of nonlinear hybrid systems using multiple linearized models. Each linearized model is a local representation of all locations of the hybrid system. These models are then combined using Bayes theorem to describe the nonlinear hybrid system. The multiple models, which consist of continuous as well as discrete variables, are used for synthesis of a model predictive control (MPC) law. The discrete-time equivalent of the model predicts the hybrid system behavior over the prediction horizon. The MPC formulation takes on a similar form as that used for control of a continuous variable system. Although implementation of the control law requires solution of an online mixed integer nonlinear program, the optimization problem has a fixed structure with certain computational advantages. We demonstrate performance and computational efficiency of the modeling and control scheme using simulations on a benchmark three-spherical tank system and a hydraulic process plant.     

A cyclic switching strategy for parameter-adaptive control

This paper introduces a new strategy, called “cyclic switching,” to deal with the well-known certainty equivalence control synthesis problem which arises in the design of identifier-based adaptive controllers because of the existence of points in parameter space where the design model Σ_D, upon which certainty equivalence synthesis is based, loses stabilizability. Unlike most previously suggested methods for handling this problem, the technique proposed here can be employed with or without process excitation. For the technique to work it is not necessary for there to be a mechanism for moving tuned parameters away from values at which Σ_D loses stabilizability, and no such mechanism is used     

Normal forms for underactuated mechanical systems with symmetry

We introduce cascade normal forms for underactuated mechanical systems that are convenient for control design. These normal forms include three classes of cascade systems, namely, nonlinear systems in strict feedback form, feedforward form, and nontriangular quadratic form (to be defined). In each case, the transformation to cascade systems is provided in closed-form. We apply our results to the Acrobot, the rotating pendulum, and the cart-pole system     

Robust switching adaptive control of multi-input nonlinear systems

During the last decade a considerable progress has been made in the design of stabilizing controllers for nonlinear systems with known and unknown constant parameters. New design tools such as adaptive feedback linearization, adaptive back-stepping, control Lyapunov functions (CLFs) and robust control Lyapunov functions (RCLFs), nonlinear damping and switching adaptive control have been introduced. Most of the results developed are applicable to single-input feedback-linearizable systems and parametric-strict-feedback systems. These results, however, cannot be applied to multi-input feedback-linearizable systems, parametric-pure-feedback systems and systems that admit a linear-in-the-parameters CLF. In this paper, we develop a general procedure for designing robust adaptive controllers for a large class of multi-input nonlinear systems. This class of nonlinear systems includes as a special case multi-input feedback-linearizable systems, parametric-pure-feedback systems and systems that admit a linear-in-the-parameters CLF. The proposed approach uses tools from the theory of RCLF and the switching adaptive controllers proposed by the authors for overcoming the problem of computing the feedback control law when the estimation model becomes uncontrollable. The proposed control approach has also been shown to be robust with respect to exogenous bounded input disturbances     

Adaptive hybrid intelligent control for uncertain nonlinear dynamical systems

A new hybrid direct/indirect adaptive fuzzy neural network (FNN) controller with a state observer and supervisory controller for a class of uncertain nonlinear dynamic systems is developed in this paper. The hybrid adaptive FNN controller, the free parameters of which can be tuned on-line by an observer-based output feedback control law and adaptive law, is a combination of direct and indirect adaptive FNN controllers. A weighting factor, which can be adjusted by the tradeoff between plant knowledge and control knowledge, is adopted to sum together the control efforts from indirect adaptive FNN controller and direct adaptive FNN controller. Furthermore, a supervisory controller is appended into the FNN controller to force the state to be within the constraint set. Therefore, if the FNN controller cannot maintain the stability, the supervisory controller starts working to guarantee stability. On the other hand, if the FNN controller works well, the supervisory controller will be deactivated. The overall adaptive scheme guarantees the global stability of the resulting closed-loop system in the sense that all signals involved are uniformly bounded. Two nonlinear systems, namely, inverted pendulum system and Chua's (1989) chaotic circuit, are fully illustrated to track sinusoidal signals. The resulting hybrid direct/indirect FNN control systems show better performances, i.e., tracking error and control effort can be made smaller and it is more flexible during the design process.     

Passivity-based switching control of flexible-joint complementarity mechanical systems

In this study one considers the tracking control problem of a class of nonsmooth Lagrangian systems with flexible joints and subject to frictionless unilateral constraints. The task under consideration consists of a succession of free-motion and constrained-motion phases. Particular attention is paid to impacting and detachment phases. A passivity-based switching controller that allows one to extend the stability analysis described in our previous works to the case of systems with lumped flexibilities, is proposed. Numerical tests show the effectiveness of the controller.     

A hybrid adaptive fuzzy control for a class of nonlinear MIMO systems

A hybrid indirect and direct adaptive fuzzy output tracking control schemes are developed for a class of nonlinear multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems. This hybrid control system consists of observer and other different control components. Using the state observer, it does not require the system states to be available for measurement. Assisted by observer-based state feedback control component, the adaptive fuzzy system plays a dominant role to maintain the closed-loop stability. Being the auxiliary compensation, H/sup /spl infin// control and sliding mode control are designed to suppress the influence of external disturbance and remove fuzzy approximation error, respectively. Thus, the system performance can be greatly improved. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed hybrid fuzzy control system can guarantee the system stability and also maintain a good tracking performance.     

Robust hybrid predictive control of nonlinear systems

In this work, we consider nonlinear systems with input constraints and uncertain variables, and develop a robust hybrid predictive control structure that provides a safety net for the implementation of any model predictive control (MPC) formulation, designed with or without taking uncertainty into account. The key idea is to use a Lyapunov-based bounded robust controller, for which an explicit characterization of the region of robust closed-loop stability can be obtained, to provide a stability region within which any available MPC formulation can be implemented. This is achieved by devising a set of switching laws that orchestrate switching between MPC and the bounded robust controller in a way that exploits the performance of MPC whenever possible, while using the bounded controller as a fall-back controller that can be switched in at any time to maintain robust closed-loop stability in the event that the predictive controller fails to yield a control move (due, e.g., to computational difficulties in the optimization or infeasibility) or leads to instability (due, e.g., to inappropriate penalties and/or horizon length in the objective function). The implementation and efficacy of the robust hybrid predictive control structure are demonstrated through simulations using a chemical process example.