Output feedback stabilizability and passivity in nonstationary and nonlinear systems

Passivity properties and passivity conditions have been shown to be very important for the stability of various methodologies of control with uncertainty in linear‐time‐invariant (LTI) systems. Many publications have defined the conditions that allow LTI systems to become strictly passive (and their transfer function strictly positive real) via constant or dynamic output feedback. As beyond the usual uncertainty, real‐world systems are not necessarily invariant, this paper expands the applicability of previous results to nonstationary and nonlinear systems. The paper first reviews a few pole–zero dynamics definitions in nonstationary systems and relates them to stability and passivity of the systems. The paper then finds the sufficient conditions that allow nonstationary systems to become stable and strictly passive via static or dynamic output feedback. Applications in robotics and adaptive control are also presented. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.