Nonlinear Control and Estimation with General Performance Criteria

This dissertation is concerned with nonlinear systems control and estimation with general performance criteria. The purpose of this work is to propose general design methods to provide systematic and effective design frameworks for nonlinear system control and estimation problems. First, novel State Dependent Linear Matrix Inequality control approach is proposed, which is optimally robust for model uncertainties and resilient against control feedback gain perturbations in achieving general performance criteria to secure quadratic optimality with inherent asymptotic stability property together with quadratic dissipative type of disturbance reduction. By solving a state dependent linear matrix inequality at each time step, the sufficient condition for the control solution can be found which satisfies the general performance criteria. The results of this dissertation unify existing results on nonlinear quadratic regulator, Hinfinity and positive real control. Secondly, an H2-Hinfinity State Dependent Riccati Equation controller is proposed in this dissertation. By solving the generalized State Dependent Riccati Equation, the optimal control solution not only achieves the optimal quadratic regulation performance, but also has the capability of external disturbance reduction. Numerically efficient algorithms are developed to facilitate effective computation. Thirdly, a robust multi-criteria optimal fuzzy control of nonlinear systems is proposed. To improve the optimality and robustness, optimal fuzzy control is proposed for nonlinear systems with general performance criteria. The Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy model is used as an effective tool to control nonlinear systems through fuzzy rule models. General performance criteria have been used to design the controller and the relative weighting matrices of these criteria can be achieved by choosing different coefficient matrices. The optimal control can be achieved by solving the LMI at each time step. Lastly, since any type of controller and observer is subject to actuator failures and sensors failures respectively, novel robust and resilient controllers and estimators are also proposed for nonlinear stochastic systems to address these failure problems. The effectiveness of the proposed control and estimation techniques are demonstrated by simulations of nonlinear systems: the inverted pendulum on a cart and the Lorenz chaotic system, respectively

Advanced control designs for output tracking of hydrostatic transmissions

The work addresses simple but efficient model descriptions in a combination with advanced control and estimation approaches to achieve an accurate tracking of the desired trajectories. The proposed control designs are capable of fully exploiting the wide operation range of HSTs within the system configuration limits. A new trajectory planning scheme for the output tracking that uses both the primary and secondary control inputs was developed. Simple models or even purely data-driven models are envisaged and deployed to develop several advanced control approaches for HST systems

Nonlinear Systems

Open Mathematics is a challenging notion for theoretical modeling, technical analysis, and numerical simulation in physics and mathematics, as well as in many other fields, as highly correlated nonlinear phenomena, evolving over a large range of time scales and length scales, control the underlying systems and processes in their spatiotemporal evolution. Indeed, available data, be they physical, biological, or financial, and technologically complex systems and stochastic systems, such as mechanical or electronic devices, can be managed from the same conceptual approach, both analytically and through computer simulation, using effective nonlinear dynamics methods. The aim of this Special Issue is to highlight papers that show the dynamics, control, optimization and applications of nonlinear systems. This has recently become an increasingly popular subject, with impressive growth concerning applications in engineering, economics, biology, and medicine, and can be considered a veritable contribution to the literature. Original papers relating to the objective presented above are especially welcome subjects. Potential topics include, but are not limited to: Stability analysis of discrete and continuous dynamical systems; Nonlinear dynamics in biological complex systems; Stability and stabilization of stochastic systems; Mathematical models in statistics and probability; Synchronization of oscillators and chaotic systems; Optimization methods of complex systems; Reliability modeling and system optimization; Computation and control over networked systems

Advanced control for miniature helicopters : modelling, design and flight test

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have been receiving unprecedented development during the past two decades. Among different types of UAVs, unmanned helicopters exhibit promising features gained from vertical-takeoff-and-landing, which make them as a versatile platform for both military and civil applications. The work reported in this thesis aims to apply advanced control techniques, in particular model predictive control (MPC), to an autonomous helicopter in order to enhance its performance and capability. First, a rapid prototyping testbed is developed to enable indoor flight testing for miniature helicopters. This testbed is able to simultaneously observe the flight state, carry out complicated algorithms and realtime control of helicopters all in a Matlab/Simulink environment, which provides a streamline process from algorithm development, simulation to flight tests. Next, the modelling and system identification for small-scale helicopters are studied. A parametric model is developed and the unknown parameters are estimated through the designed identification process. After a mathematical model of the selected helicopter is available, three MPC based control algorithms are developed focusing on different aspects in the operation of autonomous helicopters. The first algorithm is a nonlinear MPC framework. A piecewise constant scheme is used in the MPC formulation to reduce the intensive computation load. A two-level framework is suggested where the nonlinear MPC is combined with a low-level linear controller to allow its application on the systems with fast dynamics. The second algorithm solves the local path planning and the successive tracking control by using nonlinear and linear MPC, respectively. The kinematics and obstacle information are incorporated in the path planning, and the linear dynamics are used to design a flight controller. A guidance compensator dynamically links the path planner and flight controller. The third algorithm focuses on the further reduction of computational load in a MPC scheme and the trajectory tracking control in the presence of uncertainties and disturbances. An explicit nonlinear MPC is developed for helicopters to avoid online optimisation, which is then integrated with a nonlinear disturbance observer to significantly improve its robustness and disturbance attenuation. All these algorithms have been verified by flight tests for autonomous helicopters in the dedicated rapid prototyping testbed developed in this thesis.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Data-Driven Architecture to Increase Resilience In Multi-Agent Coordinated Missions

The rise in the use of Multi-Agent Systems (MASs) in unpredictable and changing environments has created the need for intelligent algorithms to increase their autonomy, safety and performance in the event of disturbances and threats. MASs are attractive for their flexibility, which also makes them prone to threats that may result from hardware failures (actuators, sensors, onboard computer, power source) and operational abnormal conditions (weather, GPS denied location, cyber-attacks). This dissertation presents research on a bio-inspired approach for resilience augmentation in MASs in the presence of disturbances and threats such as communication link and stealthy zero-dynamics attacks. An adaptive bio-inspired architecture is developed for distributed consensus algorithms to increase fault-tolerance in a network of multiple high-order nonlinear systems under directed fixed topologies. In similarity with the natural organisms’ ability to recognize and remember specific pathogens to generate its immunity, the immunity-based architecture consists of a Distributed Model-Reference Adaptive Control (DMRAC) with an Artificial Immune System (AIS) adaptation law integrated within a consensus protocol. Feedback linearization is used to modify the high-order nonlinear model into four decoupled linear subsystems. A stability proof of the adaptation law is conducted using Lyapunov methods and Jordan decomposition. The DMRAC is proven to be stable in the presence of external time-varying bounded disturbances and the tracking error trajectories are shown to be bounded. The effectiveness of the proposed architecture is examined through numerical simulations. The proposed controller successfully ensures that consensus is achieved among all agents while the adaptive law v simultaneously rejects the disturbances in the agent and its neighbors. The architecture also includes a health management system to detect faulty agents within the global network. Further numerical simulations successfully test and show that the Global Health Monitoring (GHM) does effectively detect faults within the network

14th Conference on Dynamical Systems Theory and Applications DSTA 2017 ABSTRACTS

From Preface: This is the fourteen time when the conference “Dynamical Systems – Theory and Applications” gathers a numerous group of outstanding scientists and engineers, who deal with widely understood problems of theoretical and applied dynamics. Organization of the conference would not have been possible without a great effort of the staff of the Department of Automation, Biomechanics and Mechatronics. The patronage over the conference has been taken by the Committee of Mechanics of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. It is a great pleasure that our invitation has been accepted by so many people, including good colleagues and friends as well as a large group of researchers and scientists, who decided to participate in the conference for the first time. With proud and satisfaction we welcome nearly 250 persons from 38 countries all over the world. They decided to share the results of their research and many years experiences in the discipline of dynamical systems by submitting many very interesting papers. This booklet contains a collection of 375 abstracts, which have gained the acceptance of referees and have been qualified for publication in the conference proceedings [...]

1999 Flight Mechanics Symposium

This conference publication includes papers and abstracts presented at the Flight Mechanics Symposium held on May 18-20, 1999. Sponsored by the Guidance, Navigation and Control Center of Goddard Space Flight Center, this symposium featured technical papers on a wide range of issues related to orbit-attitude prediction, determination, and control; attitude sensor calibration; attitude determination error analysis; attitude dynamics; and orbit decay and maneuver strategy. Government, industry, and the academic community participated in the preparation and presentation of these papers

NASA Tech Briefs, July 1995

Topics include: mechanical components, electronic components and circuits, electronic systems, physical sciences, materials, computer programs, mechanics, machinery, manufacturing/fabrication, mathematics and information sciences, book and reports, and a special section of Federal laboratory computing Tech Briefs

Model-based Reinforcement Learning of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems

Model-based Reinforcement Learning (MBRL) techniques accelerate the learning task by employing a transition model to make predictions. In this dissertation, we present novel techniques for online learning of unknown dynamics by iteratively computing a feedback controller based on the most recent update of the model. Assuming a structured continuous-time model of the system in terms of a set of bases, we formulate an infinite horizon optimal control problem addressing a given control objective. The structure of the system along with a value function parameterized in the quadratic form provides flexibility in analytically calculating an update rule for the parameters. Hence, a matrix differential equation of the parameters is obtained, where the solution is used to characterize the optimal feedback control in terms of the bases, at any time step. Moreover, the quadratic form of the value function suggests a compact way of updating the parameters that considerably decreases the computational complexity. In the convergence analysis, we demonstrate asymptotic stability and optimality of the obtained learning algorithm around the equilibrium by revealing its connections with the analogous Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR). Moreover, the results are extended to the trajectory tracking problem. Assuming a structured unknown nonlinear system augmented with the dynamics of a commander system, we obtain a control rule minimizing a given quadratic tracking objective function. Furthermore, in an alternative technique for learning, a piecewise nonlinear affine framework is developed for controlling nonlinear systems with unknown dynamics. Therefore, we extend the results to obtain a general piecewise nonlinear framework where each piece is responsible for locally learning and controlling over some partition of the domain. Then, we consider the Piecewise Affine (PWA) system with a bounded uncertainty as a special case, for which we suggest an optimization-based verification technique. Accordingly, given a discretization of the learned PWA system, we iteratively search for a common piecewise Lyapunov function in a set of positive definite functions, where a non-monotonic convergence is allowed. Then, this Lyapunov candidate is verified for the uncertain system. To demonstrate the applicability of the approaches presented in this dissertation, simulation results on benchmark nonlinear systems are included, such as quadrotor, vehicle, etc. Moreover, as another detailed application, we investigate the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) problem of solar Photovoltaic (PV) systems. Therefore, we develop an analytical nonlinear optimal control approach that assumes a known model. Then, we apply the obtained nonlinear optimal controller together with the piecewise MBRL technique presented previously