Generation of QFT bounds for robust tracking specifications for plants with affinely dependent uncertainties

This paper presents an efficient algorithm for the generation of QFT bounds for robust tracking specifications for plants with affinely dependent uncertainties. For a plant with m affinely dependent uncertainties, it is shown that whether a point in the Nichols chart lies in the QFT bound for a robust tracking specification at a given frequency can be easily tested by computing the maxima and minima of m2^m?1 univariate functions corresponding to the edges of the parameter domain box. This test procedure is then utilized along with a pivoting procedure to trace out the boundary of the QFT bound with a prescribed accuracy or resolution. The developed algorithm has the advantages that (1) it is efficient in the sense that it requires less floating point operations than other existing algorithms in the literature; (2) it can avoid the unfavorable trade‐off between the computational burden and the accuracy of the computed QFT bounds that has arisen in the application of many existing QFT‐bound generation algorithms; (3) the maximum allowable error of the computed QFT bound can be prespecified; and (4) it can compute QFT bounds with multi‐valued boundaries. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the proposed algorithm and its computational superiority. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A QFT Procedure for Generating Design Frequencies and Bounds of Guaranteed Accuracy

In this paper, a QFT procedure is presented to systematically determine the following (i) the set of design frequency intervals from a given design frequency range, (ii) the controller bounds of prescribed accuracy at each design frequency interval, and (iii) the controller phase intervals for efficient bound generation at each design frequency interval. The procedure is given for the robust gain-phase margin specifications, based on several new results derived in the paper in the interval analysis framework. The procedure is demonstrated on a significant practical problem concerning the longitudinal motion of an aircraft.     

Simultaneous meeting of robust control specifications in QFT

Simultaneous meeting of different‐nature feedback control specifications requires special attention, particularly in the presence of uncertainties. This paper introduces some ideas to obtain a feasible set of QFT bounds, analysing the compatibility of the desired control specifications and the model uncertainty. It studies general robust feedback requirements and their mapping on QFT bounds through quadratic inequalities. Analysing them, it is possible to infer the bound typology with dependence on the model of each particular specification and the uncertainty size. Two bound typologies (amongst three categories: upper, outer and lower bounds) are possible for each type of control objective. On this basis, some general hints are established to guarantee compatible bounds at each frequency, before designing the controller. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Computation of QFT bounds for robust tracking specifications

An algorithm is proposed for generation of QFT controller bounds to achieve robust tracking specifications. The proposed algorithm uses quadratic constraints and interval plant templates to compute the bounds, and presents several improvements over existing QFT tracking bound generation algorithms. The proposed algorithm (1) guarantees robustness against template inaccuracies, (2) guarantees robustness against phase discretization, (3) provides a posteriori error estimates, (4) is computationally efficient, achieving a reduction in flops and execution time, typically by 1-2 orders of magnitude. The algorithm is demonstrated on an aircraft example having five uncertain parameters.     

Graphical computation of gain and phase margin specifications-oriented robust PID controllers for uncertain systems with time-varying delay

This paper proposes a novel graphical method to compute all feasible gain and phase margin specifications-oriented robust PID controllers to stabilize uncertain control systems with time-varying delay. A virtual gain-phase margin tester compensator is incorporated to guarantee the concerned system with certain robust safety margins. The complex Kharitonov theorem is used to characterize the parametric uncertainties of the considered system and is exploited as a stability criterion for the Hurwitz property of a family of polynomials with complex coefficients varying within given intervals. The coefficients of the characteristic equation are overbounded and eight vertex Kharitonov polynomials are derived to perform stability analysis. The stability equation method and the parameter plane method are exploited to portray constant gain margin and phase margin boundaries. The feasible controllers stabilizing every one of the eight vertex polynomials are identified in the parameter plane by taking the overlapped region of the plotted boundaries. The overlapped region of the useful region of each vertex polynomial is the Kharitonov region, which represents all the feasible specifications-oriented robust PID controller gain sets. Variations of the Kharitonov region with respect to variations of the derivative gain are extensively studied. The way to select representative points from the Kharitonov region for designing robust controllers is suggested. Finally, three illustrative examples with computer simulations are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and confirm the validity of the proposed methodology. Based on the pre-specified gain and phase margin specifications, a non-conservative Kharitonov region can be graphically identified directly in the parameter plane for designing robust PID controllers.     

Non‐diagonal MIMO QFT controller design reformulation

This paper presents a reformulation of the full‐matrix quantitative feedback theory (QFT) robust control methodology for multiple‐input–multiple‐output (MIMO) plants with uncertainty. The new methodology includes a generalization of previous non‐diagonal MIMO QFT techniques; avoiding former hypotheses of diagonal dominance; simplifying the calculations for the off‐diagonal elements, and then the method itself; reformulating the classical matrix definition of MIMO specifications by designing a new set of loop‐by‐loop QFT bounds on the Nichols Chart, which establish necessary and sufficient conditions; giving explicit expressions to share the load among the loops of the MIMO system to achieve the matrix specifications; and all for stability, reference tracking, disturbance rejection at plant input and output, and noise attenuation problems. The new methodology is applied to the design of a MIMO controller for a spacecraft flying in formation in a low Earth orbit. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ROBUST GAIN‐SCHEDULED CONTROL OF A VERTICAL TAKEOFF AIRCRAFT WITH ACTUATOR SATURATION VIA THE LMI METHOD

This paper presents a robust gain‐scheduled approach for the control of a vertical/short takeoff. and landing (V/STOL) aircraft. The nonlinear aircraft dynamics exhibit non‐minimum phase characteristics arising from the parasitic coupling effect between the aircraft's lateral force and rolling moment. The undesired coupling effect also causes modelling uncertainy of the aircraft dynamics. The nonlinear aircraft dynamics are considered to be composed of a nominal linear parameter varying (LPV) system and a linear system with a norm bounded uncertainy matrix multiplied by the parasitic uncertain non‐minimum phase coupling parameter. The nominal LPV system is considered to be affinely dependent on a measurable varying parameter. The ranges of the varying parameter and its variation as well as its parasitic induced uncertain matrix are addressed by introducing the parameter‐dependent invariant ellipsoid interpretation for dealing with the issue of affinely quadratic stabilization. In this paper, the relations among the magnitude of actuator saturation, the maximum achievable relative stability, and the sustainable coupling uncertainty are investigated for the considered robust gain‐scheduled design.     

Robust filtering under stochastic parametric uncertainties

This paper is concerned with a polynomial approach to robust deconvolution filtering of linear discrete-time systems with random modeling uncertainties. The modeling errors appear in the coefficients of the numerators and denominators of both the input signal and system transfer function models in the form of random variables with zero means and known upper bounds of the covariances. The robust filtering problem is to find an estimator that minimizes the maximum mean square estimation error over the random parameter uncertainties and input and measurement noises. The key to our solution is to quantify the effect of the random parameter uncertainties by introducing two fictitious noises for which a simple way is given to calculate their covariances. The optimal robust estimator is then computed by solving one spectral factorization and one polynomial equation as in the standard optimal estimator design using a polynomial approach. An example of signal detection in mobile communication is given to illustrate the effectiveness of our approach.     

Robust stability of nonlinear time‐delay systems with interval time‐varying delay

This paper deals with the problem of obtaining delay‐dependent stability conditions and L₂‐gain analysis for a class of nonlinear time‐delay systems with norm‐bounded and possibly time‐varying uncertainties. No restrictions on the derivative of the time‐varying delay are imposed, though lower and upper bounds of the delay interval are assumed to be known. A Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional approach is proposed to derive novel delay‐dependent stability conditions which are expressed in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). To reduce conservatism, the work exploits the idea of splitting the delay interval in multiple regions, so that specific conditions can be imposed to a unique functional in the different regions. This improves the computed bounds for certain delay‐dependent integral terms, providing less conservative LMI conditions. Examples are provided to demonstrate the reduced conservatism with respect to the available results in the literature. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Robust global stabilization of linear systems with input saturation via gain scheduling

The problem of robust global stabilization of linear systems subject to input saturation and input‐additive uncertainties is revisited in this paper. By taking advantages of the recently developed parametric Lyapunov equation‐based low gain feedback design method and an existing dynamic gain scheduling technique, a new gain scheduling controller is proposed to solve the problem. In comparison with the existing ?₂‐type gain scheduling controller, which requires the online solution of a state‐dependent nonlinear optimization problem and a state‐dependent ?₂ algebraic Riccati equation (ARE), all the parameters in the proposed controller are determined a priori. In the absence of the input‐additive uncertainties, the proposed controller also partially recovers Teel's ?_∞‐type scheduling approach by solving the problem of global stabilization of linear systems with actuator saturation. The ?_∞‐type scheduling approach achieves robustness not only with non‐input‐additive uncertainties but also requires the closed‐form solution to an ?_∞ ARE. Thus, the proposed scheduling method also addresses the implementation issues of the ?_∞‐type scheduling approach in the absence of non‐input‐additive uncertainties. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On quantitative feedback design for robust position control of hydraulic actuators

This paper discusses several practical issues related to the design of robust position controllers for hydraulic actuators by quantitative feedback theory (QFT). Important properties of the hydraulic actuator behavior, for control system design, are identified by calculating a family of equivalent frequency responses from acceptable nonlinear input–output data. The role of this modeling approach towards reducing over-design by decreasing the sizes of the QFT plant templates is described. The relationship between the geometry of the QFT bounds and the complexity of the robust feedback law is examined through the development of two low-order controllers having characteristics suitable for different applications. Experimental test results demonstrate the extent that each QFT controller is able to maintain robustness against variations in the hydraulic system dynamics that occur due to changing load conditions as well as uncertainties in the hydraulic supply pressure, valve spool gain, and actuator damping.     

Efficient algorithm for computing QFT bounds

This article presents an efficient algorithm for computing quantitative feedback theory (QFT) bounds for frequency-domain specifications from plant templates which are approximated by a finite number of points. To develop the algorithm, an efficient procedure is developed for testing, at a given frequency, whether or not a complex point lies in the QFT bound. This test procedure is then utilised along with a pivoting procedure to trace out, with a prescribed accuracy or resolution, the boundary of the QFT bound. The developed algorithm for computing QFT bounds has the advantages that it is efficient and can compute QFT bounds with multi-valued boundaries. A numerical example is given to show the computational superiority of the proposed algorithm.     

Gain‐scheduled ℋ︁2 controller synthesis for linear parameter varying systems via parameter‐dependent Lyapunov functions

This paper deals with the problem of gain‐scheduled ??₂ control for linear parameter‐varying systems. The system state–space model matrices are affinely parameterized and the admissible values of the parameters and their rate of variation are supposed to belong to a given convex bounded polyhedral domain. Based on a parameter‐dependent Lyapunov function, a linear matrix inequality methodology is proposed for designing a gain‐scheduled state feedback ??₂ controller, where the feedback gain is a matrix fraction of polynomial matrices with quadratic dependence on the scheduling parameters. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On a new adaptive sliding mode control for MIMO nonlinear systems with uncertainties of unknown bounds

This paper proposes a new approach of adaptive sliding mode controller designs for multiple‐input multiple‐output nonlinear systems with uncertainties of unknown bounds and limited available inputs. The goal is to obtain robust, smooth, and fast transient performance for real sliding mode control so that the phenomena of the slow response and the gain overestimation in most adaptive sliding mode controller designs can be greatly improved. We introduce an Integral/Exponential adaptation law with boundary‐layer targeting the reduction of the chatter levels of the sliding mode by significantly reducing the gain overestimation while simultaneously speeding up the system response to the uncertainties. The gain is further reduced when the system state is in the boundary layer. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate the proposed design. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stability Robustness of Closed‐Loop Systems in Angular Metrics

H_∞‐norm is widely used in the analysis and synthesis of robust control, a field which continues to flourish and develop. However, H_∞‐norm can only be used to measure the distance between two stable systems, not unstable systems. Sometimes, it is not appropriate to measure the gap between two systems. In this paper, a new metric, angular metric, defined in linear spaces of real rational matrices, is used to measure the distance of two systems with different dimensions. It is also used to measure the uncertainties and describe the performance specifications of the robust control system. In the framework of this metric, the robust stability margin is proposed to characterize the stability robustness of the closed‐loop system. When both the plant and the controller have uncertainties simultaneously, we introduce structural robust stability and prove the necessary and sufficient conditions of the robust stability of the feedback control system.     

Robust static output feedback design for polynomial nonlinear systems

A computational scheme of solving the nonlinear static output feedback design problems for a class of polynomial nonlinear systems is investigated in this paper. Sufficient conditions to achieve the closed‐loop stability with or without H_∞ performance are presented as state‐dependent matrix inequalities, which provides an effective way for the application of the new sum of squares programming technique to obtain computationally tractable solutions. By introducing additional matrix variables, we succeed in eliminating the coupling between system matrices and the Lyapunov matrix. The proposed methodology is also extended to the synthesis for the parameter‐dependent polynomial systems. Robust polynomial output feedback controller is designed in an efficient computational manner. Finally, numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

QFT bounds for robust stability specifications defined on the open‐loop function

In the framework of quantitative feedback theory, this paper develops a new method to compute robust stability bounds. This is of special interest when stability is defined directly on the open‐loop function. Thus, ignorance of the plant gain and phase shift can be specifically and independently considered. Furthermore, upper and lower stability margins for both gain and phase can be chosen. However, classical quantitative feedback theory stability specifications are defined as constraining the peak magnitude of closed‐loop functions, which lack the said flexibility. Once the upper tolerance has been defined, all stability margins are determined. Moreover, confining the most restrictive stability margin may result in other excessive margins. However, the stability bounds of the new approach guard just the required distance from the open‐loop frequency response to the critical point. This allows maximization of the available feedback in the functional bandwidth and minimization of the cost of feedback beyond the crossover frequency, provided that the open‐loop frequency response is shaped to closely follow the stability bounds. It should be noted that the new bound computation algorithm performs few and simple arithmetic operations. This makes it far more efficient than traditional methods. The flight altitude control of an unmanned aerial vehicle is proposed as a practical example to show the new method's potential benefits.     

Stability margin-based PD attitude control tuning for unstable flight vehicle

Proportional-derivative (PD) attitude control is widely used for the flight vehicles, especially in boost phase. Some of the flight dynamics are open-loop unstable, which often limits the achievable closed-loop performance. Based on the intrinsic characteristics of the linear model obtained from the small perturbation theory, simple numerical analytical tuning formulae of PD attitude control are derived to meet the gain and phase margin specifications. According to Routh stability criterion, the decreasing gain margin is obtained by using the approximation of delay amid low frequency with the established tuning rule. Some numerical polynomial solving approaches are employed to seek the feasible stability margin region, which is explicitly plotted in the 2-D plane. Taking engineering practice into account, the maximum gain constraint is also imposed. Finally, several numerical examples are presented to validate the analysis result.     

On the boundedness of the set of stabilizing controllers

This paper shows that the set of rational, strictly proper, robustly stabilizing controllers for single‐input single‐output linear‐time invariant plants will form a bounded (can even be empty) set in the controller parameter space if and only if the order of the stabilizing controller cannot be reduced any further; if the set of proper stabilizing controllers of order r is not empty and the set of strictly proper controllers of order r is bounded, then r is the minimal order of stabilization. The paper also extends this result to characterize the set of controllers that guarantee some pre‐specified performance specifications. In particular, it is shown here that the minimal order of a controller that guarantees specified performance is l iff (1) there is a controller of order l guaranteeing the specified performance and (2) the set of strictly proper, robustly stabilizing controllers of order l and guaranteeing the performance is bounded. Moreover, if the order of the controller is increased, the set of higher‐order controllers which satisfies the specified performance will necessarily be unbounded. This characterization is provided for performance specifications, such as gain margin and robust stability, which require a one‐parameter family of real polynomials to be Hurwitz, where the parameter is in a closed interval. Other performance specifications, such as phase margin and ℋ︁_∞ norm, can be reduced to the problem of determining a set of stabilizing controllers that renders a family of complex polynomials Hurwitz. The characterization of the set of controllers for the stabilization of complex polynomials is provided and is used to show the boundedness properties for the set of controllers that guarantee a given phase margin or an upper bound on the ℋ︁_∞ norm. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Automated synthesis of multivariable QFT controller using interval constraint satisfaction technique

Robust controller synthesis of Multi-Input–Multi-Output (MIMO) systems is of great practical interest and their automation is a key concern in control system design. The synthesis problem consists of obtaining a controller that ensures stability and meets a given set of performance specifications, in spite of the disturbance and model uncertainties. In addition to perform the above tasks, a MIMO controller also has to perform the difficult task of minimizing the interaction between the various control loops.Unlike existing manual or convex optimization based Quantitative Feedback Theory (QFT) design approaches, the proposed method gives a controller which meets all performance requirements in QFT, without going through the conservative and sequential design stages for each of the multivariable sub-systems. In this paper, a new, simple, and reliable automated MIMO QFT controllers design methodology is proposed. A fixed structure MIMO QFT controller has been synthesized by solving QFT quadratic inequalities of robust stability and tracking specifications. The quadratic inequalities (constraints) are posed as Interval Constraint Satisfaction Problem (ICSP). The constraints are solved by constraint solver — RealPaver. The main feature of this method is that the algorithm finds all the solutions to within the user-specified accuracy. The designed MIMO QFT controllers are tested on the experimental setup designed by Educational Control Product (ECP) Magnetic Levitation Setup ECP 730. From the experimental results presented, it is observed that, the designed controller satisfies the desired performance specifications. It is also observed that, the interactions between the loops are within the specified limits. The robustness of the designed controllers are verified by putting extra weights on the magnets.