Lyapunov based optimal control of a class of nonlinear systems

Optimal control of nonlinear systems is in fact difficult since it requires the solution to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation which has no closed-form solution. In contrast to offline and/or online iterative schemes for optimal control, this dissertation in the form of five papers focuses on the design of iteration free, online optimal adaptive controllers for nonlinear discrete and continuous-time systems whose dynamics are completely or partially unknown even when the states not measurable. Thus, in Paper I, motivated by homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine dynamics, a neural network-based infinite horizon robust optimal controller is introduced for uncertain nonaffine nonlinear discrete-time systems. First, the nonaffine system is transformed into an affine-like representation while the resulting higher order terms are mitigated by using a robust term. The optimal adaptive controller for the affinelike system solves HJB equation and identifies the system dynamics provided a target set point is given. Since it is difficult to define the set point a priori in Paper II, an extremum seeking control loop is designed while maximizing an uncertain output function. On the other hand, Paper III focuses on the infinite horizon online optimal tracking control of known nonlinear continuous-time systems in strict feedback form by using state and output feedback by relaxing the initial admissible controller requirement. Paper IV applies the optimal controller from Paper III to an underactuated helicopter attitude and position tracking problem. In Paper V, the optimal control of nonlinear continuous-time systems in strict feedback form from Paper III is revisited by using state and output feedback when the internal dynamics are unknown. Closed-loop stability is demonstrated for all the controller designs developed in this dissertation by using Lyapunov analysis --Abstract, page iv

Adaptive neural control of MIMO nonlinear systems with a block-triangular pure-feedback control structure

This paper presents adaptive neural tracking control for a class of uncertain multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) nonlinear systems in block-triangular form. All subsystems within these MIMO nonlinear systems are of completely nonaffine purefeedback form and allowed to have different orders. To deal with the nonaffine appearance of the control variables, the mean value theorem (MVT) is employed to transform the systems into a block-triangular strict-feedback form with control coefficients being couplings among various inputs and outputs. A systematic procedure is proposed for the design of a new singularityfree adaptive neural tracking control strategy. Such a design procedure can remove the couplings among subsystems and hence avoids the possible circular control construction problem. As a consequence, all the signals in the closed-loop system are guaranteed to be semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded (SGUUB). Moreover, the outputs of the systems are ensured to converge to a small neighborhood of the desired trajectories. Simulation studies verify the theoretical findings revealed in this work

Lyapunov-based Control Design For Uncertain Mimo Systems

In this dissertation. we document the progress in the control design for a class of MIMO nonlinear uncertain system from five papers. In the first part, we address the problem of adaptive control design for a class of multi-input multi-output (MIMO) nonlinear systems. A Lypaunov based singularity free control law, which compensates for parametric uncertainty in both the drift vector and the input gain matrix, is proposed under the mild assumption that the signs of the leading minors of the control input gain matrix are known. Lyapunov analysis shows global uniform ultimate boundedness (GUUB) result for the tracking error under full state feedback (FSFB). Under the restriction that only the output vector is available for measurement, an output feedback (OFB) controller is designed based on a standard high gain observer (HGO) stability under OFB is fostered by the uniformity of the FSFB solution. Simulation results for both FSFB and OFB controllers demonstrate the efcacy of the MIMO control design in the classical 2-DOF robot manipulator model. In the second part, an adaptive feedback control is designed for a class of MIMO nonlinear systems containing parametric uncertainty in both the drift vector and the input gain matrix, which is assumed to be full-rank and non-symmetric in general. Based on an SDU decomposition of the gain matrix, a singularity-free adaptive tracking control law is proposed that is shown to be globally asymptotically stable (GAS) under full-state feedback. iii Output feedback results are facilitated via the use of a high-gain observer (HGO). Under output feedback control, ultimate boundedness of the error signals is obtained the size of the bound is related to the size of the uncertainty in the parameters. An explicit upper bound is also provided on the size of the HGO gain constant. In third part, a class of aeroelastic systems with an unmodeled nonlinearity and external disturbance is considered. By using leading- and trailing-edge control surface actuations, a full-state feedforward/feedback controller is designed to suppress the aeroelastic vibrations of a nonlinear wing section subject to external disturbance. The full-state feedback control yields a uniformly ultimately bounded result for two-axis vibration suppression. With the restriction that only pitching and plunging displacements are measurable while their rates are not, a high-gain observer is used to modify the full-state feedback control design to an output feedback design. Simulation results demonstrate the ef cacy of the multi-input multioutput control toward suppressing aeroelastic vibration and limit cycle oscillations occurring in pre and post utter velocity regimes when the system is subjected to a variety of external disturbance signals. Comparisons are drawn with a previously designed adaptive multi-input multi-output controller. In the fourth part, a continuous robust feedback control is designed for a class of high-order multi-input multi-output (MIMO) nonlinear systems with two degrees of freedom containing unstructured nonlinear uncertainties in the drift vector and parametric uncertainties in the high frequency gain matrix, which is allowed to be non-symmetric in general. Given some mild assumptions on the system model, a singularity-free continuous robust tracking coniv trol law is designed that is shown to be semi-globally asymptotically stable under full-state feedback through a Lyapunov stability analysis. The performance of the proposed algorithm have been verified on a two-link robot manipulator model and 2-DOF aeroelastic model

Adaptive Output Feedback Based on Closed-Loop Reference Models for Hypersonic Vehicles

This paper presents a new method of synthesizing an output feedback adaptive controller for a class of uncertain, non-square, multi-input multi-output systems that often occur in hypersonic vehicle models. The main challenge that needs to be addressed is the determination of a corresponding square and strictly positive real transfer function. This paper proposes a new procedure to synthesize two gain matrices that allows the realization of such a transfer function, thereby allowing a globally stable adaptive output feedback law to be generated. The unique features of this output feedback adaptive controller are a baseline controller that uses a Luenberger observer, a closed-loop reference model, manipulations of a bilinear matrix inequality, and the Kalman-Yakubovich Lemma. Using these features, a simple design procedure is proposed for the adaptive controller, and the corresponding stability property is established. The proposed adaptive controller is compared to the classical multi-input multi-output adaptive controller. A numerical example based on a scramjet powered, blended wing-body generic hypersonic vehicle model is presented. The 6 degree-of-freedom nonlinear vehicle model is linearized, giving the design model for which the controller is synthesized. The adaptive output feedback controller is then applied to an evaluation model, which is nonlinear, coupled, and includes actuator dynamics, and is shown to result in stable tracking in the presence of uncertainties that destabilize the baseline linear output feedback controller.This research is funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory/Aerospace Systems Directorate grant FA 8650-07-2-3744 for the Michigan/MIT/AFRL Collaborative Center in Control Sciences and the Boeing Strategic University Initiative. Approved for Public Release; Distribution Unlimited. Case Number 88ABW- 2014-2551

Neural Network-based Finite-time Control of Nonlinear Systems with Unknown Dead-zones: Application to Quadrotors

Over the years, researchers have addressed several control problems of various classes of nonlinear systems. This article considers a class of uncertain strict feedback nonlinear system with unknown external disturbances and asymmetric input dead-zone. Designing a tracking controller for such system is very complex and challenging. This article aims to design a finite-time adaptive neural network backstepping tracking control for the nonlinear system under consideration. In addition,  all unknown disturbances and nonlinear functions are lumped together and approximated by radial basis function neural network (RBFNN). Moreover, no prior  information about the boundedness of the dead-zone parameters is required in the controller design. With the aid of a Lyapunov candidate function, it has been shown that the tracking errors converge near the origin in finite-time. Simulation results testify that the proposed control approach can force the output to follow the reference trajectory in a short time despite the presence of  asymmetric input dead-zone and external disturbances. At last, in order to highlight the effectiveness of the proposed control method, it is applied to a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)

Globally Intelligent Adaptive Finite-/Fixed- Time Tracking Control for Strict-Feedback Nonlinear Systems via Composite Learning Approaches

This article focuses on the globally composite adaptive law-based intelligent finite-/fixed- time (FnT/FxT) tracking control issue for a family of uncertain strict-feedback nonlinear systems. First, intelligent approximators with new composite updating laws are developed to model uncertain nonlinear terms, which encompass prediction errors to enhance intelligent approximators' learning behaviors and fewer online learning parameters to diminish computational burden. Then, a novel smooth switching function coupled with robust controllers is designed to pull system states back when the transients are out of the approximators' active domain. After that, a modified FnT/FxT backstepping technique is constructed to render output to follow the reference trajectory, and an adaptive law is employed to alleviate the impact of external disturbances. It is theoretically confirmed that the proposed control strategies ensure globally FnT/FxT boundedness of all the closed-loop variables. Finally, the validity of theoretical results is testified via a simulation case.Comment: 6 pages,12 figure

Global Practical Tracking by Output Feedback for Nonlinear Systems with Unknown Growth Rate and Time Delay

This paper is the further investigation of work of Yan and Liu, 2011, and considers the global practical tracking problem by output feedback for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with not only unmeasured states dependent growth but also time-varying time delay. Compared with the closely related works, the remarkableness of the paper is that the time-varying time delay and unmeasurable states are permitted in the system nonlinear growth. Motivated by the related tracking results and flexibly using the ideas and techniques of universal control and dead zone, an adaptive output-feedback tracking controller is explicitly designed with the help of a new Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, to make the tracking error prescribed arbitrarily small after a finite time while keeping all the closed-loop signals bounded. A numerical example demonstrates the effectiveness of the results