Interval estimation for uncertain systems with time-varying delays

The estimation problem for uncertain time-delay systems is addressed. A design method of reduced-order interval observers is proposed. The observer estimates the set of admissible values (the interval) for the state at each instant of time. The cases of known fixed delays and uncertain time-varying delays are analysed. The proposed approach can be applied to linear delay systems and nonlinear time-delay systems in the output canonical form. It involves the properties of quasi-monotone/Metzler/cooperative systems. In this framework, it is shown that if under a suitable coordinate transformation the delay-free subsystem is cooperative, then the delayed estimation error dynamics inherits this property. The conditions to find the observer gains are formulated in the form of LMI. The framework efficiency is demonstrated on examples of nonlinear systems.