Active Sensing of Robot Arms Based on Zeroing Neural Networks: A Biological-Heuristic Optimization Model

Conventional biological-heuristic solutions via zeroing neural network (ZNN) models have achieved preliminary efficiency on time-dependent nonlinear optimization problems handling. However, the investigation on finding a feasible ZNN model to solve the time-dependent nonlinear optimization problems with both inequality and equality constraints still remains stagnant because of the nonlinearity and complexity. To make new progresses on the ZNN for time-dependent nonlinear optimization problems solving, this paper proposes a biological-heuristic optimization model, i.e., inequality and equality constrained optimization ZNN (IECO-ZNN). Such a proposed IECO-ZNN breaks the conditionality that the solutions via ZNN for solving nonlinear optimization problems can not consider the inequality and equality constraints at the same time. The time-dependent nonlinear optimization problem subject to inequality and equality constraints is skillfully converted to a time-dependent equality system by exploiting the Lagrange multiplier rule. The design process for the IECO-ZNN model is presented together with its new architecture illustrated in details. In addition, the conversion equivalence, global stability as well as exponential convergence property are theoretically proven. Moreover, numerical studies, real-world applications to robot arm active sensing, and comparisons sufficiently verify the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed IECO-ZNN model for the time-dependent nonlinear optimization with inequality and equality constraints

Advanced Computational-Effective Control and Observation Schemes for Constrained Nonlinear Systems

Constraints are one of the most common challenges that must be faced in control systems design. The sources of constraints in engineering applications are several, ranging from actuator saturations to safety restrictions, from imposed operating conditions to trajectory limitations. Their presence cannot be avoided, and their importance grows even more in high performance or hazardous applications. As a consequence, a common strategy to mitigate their negative effect is to oversize the components. This conservative choice could be largely avoided if the controller was designed taking all limitations into account. Similarly, neglecting the constraints in system estimation often leads to suboptimal solutions, which in turn may negatively affect the control effectiveness. Therefore, with the idea of taking a step further towards reliable and sustainable engineering solutions, based on more conscious use of the plants' dynamics, we decide to address in this thesis two fundamental challenges related to constrained control and observation. In the first part of this work, we consider the control of uncertain nonlinear systems with input and state constraints, for which a general approach remains elusive. In this context, we propose a novel closed-form solution based on Explicit Reference Governors and Barrier Lyapunov Functions. Notably, it is shown that adaptive strategies can be embedded in the constrained controller design, thus handling parametric uncertainties that often hinder the resulting performance of constraint-aware techniques. The second part of the thesis deals with the global observation of dynamical systems subject to topological constraints, such as those evolving on Lie groups or homogeneous spaces. Here, general observability analysis tools are overviewed, and the problem of sensorless control of permanent magnets electrical machines is presented as a case of study. Through simulation and experimental results, we demonstrate that the proposed formalism leads to high control performance and simple implementation in embedded digital controllers

Decentralised State Feedback Tracking Control for Large-Scale Interconnected Systems Using Sliding Mode Techniques

A class of large-scale interconnected systems with matched and unmatched uncertainties is studied in this thesis, with the objective of proposing a controller based on diffeomorphisms and some techniques to deal with the tracking problem of the system. The main research developed in this thesis includes: 1. Large-scale interconnected system is a complex system consisting of several semi-independent subsystems, which are typically located in distinct geographic or logical locations. In this situation, decentralised control which only collects the local information is the practical method to deal with large-scale interconnected systems. The decentralised methodology is utilised throughout this thesis, guaranteeing that systems exhibit essential robustness against uncertainty. 2. Sliding mode technique is involved in the process of controller design. By introducing a nonsingular local diffeomorphism, the large-scale system can be transformed into a system with a specific regular form, where the matched uncertainty is completely absent from the subspace spanned by the sliding mode dynamics. The sliding mode based controller is proposed in this thesis to successfully achieve high robustness of the closed-loop interconnected systems with some particular uncertainties. 3. The considered large-scale interconnected systems can always track the smooth desired signals in a finite time. Each subsystem can track its own ideal signal or all subsystems can track the same ideal signal. Both situations are discussed in this thesis and the results are mathematically proven by introducing the Lyapunov theory, even when operating under the presence of disturbances. At the end of each chapter, some simulation examples, like a coupled inverted pendulums system, a river pollution system and a high-speed train system, are presented to verify the correctness of the proposed theory. At the conclusion of this thesis, a brief summary of the research findings has been provided, along with a mention of potential future research directions in tracking control of large-scale systems, like more general boundedness of interconnections, possibilities of distributed control, collaboration with intelligent control and so on. Some mathematical theories involved and simulation code are included in the appendix section

AI based Robot Safe Learning and Control

Introduction This open access book mainly focuses on the safe control of robot manipulators. The control schemes are mainly developed based on dynamic neural network, which is an important theoretical branch of deep reinforcement learning. In order to enhance the safety performance of robot systems, the control strategies include adaptive tracking control for robots with model uncertainties, compliance control in uncertain environments, obstacle avoidance in dynamic workspace. The idea for this book on solving safe control of robot arms was conceived during the industrial applications and the research discussion in the laboratory. Most of the materials in this book are derived from the authors’ papers published in journals, such as IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, neurocomputing, etc. This book can be used as a reference book for researcher and designer of the robotic systems and AI based controllers, and can also be used as a reference book for senior undergraduate and graduate students in colleges and universities

Model learning for trajectory tracking of robot manipulators

Abstract Model based controllers have drastically improved robot performance, increasing task accuracy while reducing control effort. Nevertheless, all this was realized with a very strong assumption: the exact knowledge of the physical properties of both the robot and the environment that surrounds it. This assertion is often misleading: in fact modern robots are modeled in a very approximate way and, more important, the environment is almost never static and completely known. Also for systems very simple, such as robot manipulators, these assumptions are still too strong and must be relaxed. Many methods were developed which, exploiting previous experiences, are able to refine the nominal model: from classic identification techniques to more modern machine learning based approaches. Indeed, the topic of this thesis is the investigation of these data driven techniques in the context of robot control for trajectory tracking. In the first two chapters, preliminary knowledge is provided on both model based controllers, used in robotics to assure precise trajectory tracking, and model learning techniques. In the following three chapters, are presented the novelties introduced by the author in this context with respect to the state of the art: three works with the same premise (an inaccurate system modeling), an identical goal (accurate trajectory tracking control) but with small differences according to the specific platform of application (fully actuated, underactuated, redundant robots). In all the considered architectures, an online learning scheme has been introduced to correct the nominal feedback linearization control law. Indeed, the method has been primarily introduced in the literature to cope with fully actuated systems, showing its efficacy in the accurate tracking of joint space trajectories also with an inaccurate dynamic model. The main novelty of the technique was the use of only kinematics information, instead of torque measurements (in general very noisy), to online retrieve and compensate the dynamic mismatches. After that the method has been extended to underactuated robots. This new architecture was composed by an online learning correction of the controller, acting on the actuated part of the system (the nominal partial feedback linearization), and an offline planning phase, required to realize a dynamically feasible trajectory also for the zero dynamics of the system. The scheme was iterative: after each trial, according to the collected information, both the phases were improved and then repeated until the task achievement. Also in this case the method showed its capability, both in numerical simulations and on real experiments on a robotics platform. Eventually the method has been applied to redundant systems: differently from before, in this context the task consisted in the accurate tracking of a Cartesian end effector trajectory. In principle very similar to the fully actuated case, the presence of redundancy slowed down drastically the learning machinery convergence, worsening the performance. In order to cope with this, a redundancy resolution was proposed that, exploiting an approximation of the learning algorithm (Gaussian process regression), allowed to locally maximize the information and so select the most convenient self motion for the system; moreover, all of this was realized with just the resolution of a quadratic programming problem. Also in this case the method showed its performance, realizing an accurate online tracking while reducing both the control effort and the joints velocity, obtaining so a natural behaviour. The thesis concludes with summary considerations on the proposed approach and with possible future directions of research

On Control and Estimation of Large and Uncertain Systems

This thesis contains an introduction and six papers about the control and estimation of large and uncertain systems. The first paper poses and solves a deterministic version of the multiple-model estimation problem for finite sets of linear systems. The estimate is an interpolation of Kalman filter estimates. It achieves a provided energy gain bound from disturbances to the point-wise estimation error, given that the gain bound is feasible. The second paper shows how to compute upper and lower bounds for the smallest feasible gain bound. The bounds are computed via Riccati recursions. The third paper proves that it is sufficient to consider observer-based feedback in output-feedback control of linear systems with uncertain parameters, where the uncertain parameters belong to a finite set. The paper also contains an example of a discrete-time integrator with unknown gain. The fourth paper argues that the current methods for analyzing the robustness of large systems with structured uncertainty do not distinguish between sparse and dense perturbations and proposes a new robustness measure that captures sparsity. The paper also thoroughly analyzes this new measure. In particular, it proposes an upper bound that is amenable to distributed computation and valuable for control design. The fifth paper solves the problem of localized state-feedback L2 control with communication delay for large discrete-time systems. The synthesis procedure can be performed for each node in parallel. The paper combines the localized state-feedback controller with a localized Kalman filter to synthesize a localized output feedback controller that stabilizes the closed-loop subject to communication constraints. The sixth paper concerns optimal linear-quadratic team-decision problems where the team does not have access to the model. Instead, the players must learn optimal policies by interacting with the environment. The paper contains algorithms and regret bounds for the first- and zeroth-order information feedback

Output regulation of rational nonlinear systems with input saturation

This thesis deals with the output regulation of rational nonlinear systems with input saturation. The output regulation problem considers a controlled plant subject to non-vanishing perturbations or reference signals produced by an exogenous autonomous system, where the goal is to ensure asymptotic convergence to zero of the plant output error. This work develops systematic methodologies for stability analysis and design of anti-windup compensated dynamic output feedback stabilizing controllers able to solve the output regulation problem for rational nonlinear systems with saturating inputs. In order to obtain these results, the proposed method employs the differential-algebraic representation, a theoretical framework that treats rational nonlinear systems by a differential equation combined with an equality relation. This tool is utilized in order to cast the stability analysis and control synthesis into optimization problems subject to linear matrix inequality constraints. Towards ensuring asymptotic output regulation, it is initially assumed the prior knowledge of an exact solution to the regulator equations, which represent an invariant and zero-error steady-state manifold. This assumption is later relaxed, where the results are extended for the practical regulation problem. In this last scenario, any numerically approximated solution to the regulator equations may be considered and the devised methodology ensures ultimate boundedness of the output error. Overall, the main innovation of this thesis is the application of the differential-algebraic representation into the nonlinear output regulation context, in turn providing a solution to a new set of problems intractable by state-of-the-art nonlinear methods.Esta tese trata da regulação de saída de sistemas não-lineares racionais com saturação na entrada. O problema de regulação de saída considera uma planta sujeita a sinais persistentes de distúrbio ou referência produzidos por um sistema exógeno autônomo, onde o objetivo é garantir a convergência assintótica do erro de saída da planta para zero. Este trabalho desenvolve metodologias sistemáticas para análise de estabilidade e projeto de controladores estabilizantes dinâmicos de realimentação de saída com compensadores anti-windup para sistemas não-lineares racionais com saturação no contexto de regulação de saída. O método proposto utiliza principalmente a representação algébrico-diferencial, uma abordagem teórica que trata sistemas não-lineares racionais por meio de uma equação diferencial combinada com uma igualdade algébrica. Para assegurar a regulação assintótica de saída, inicialmente assume-se o conhecimento de um modelo interno e uma solução exata para as equações do regulador, que representa um conjunto invariante de regime permanente onde o erro de saída é zero. Esta suposição é posteriormente relaxada, onde os resultados são estendidos para o contexto de regulação de saída prática. Os desenvolvimentos principais desta tese estão divididos nos seguintes capítulos: Regulação de Saída de Sistemas Não-Lineares Racionais; Regulação de Saída de Sistemas Não-Lineares Racionais com Saturação de Entrada e Extensão para Regulação de Saída Prática. O primeiro capítulo mencionado introduz a proposta de base deste trabalho, que consiste no emprego da representação algébrico-diferencial para a dinâmica do erro de regulação entorno do conjunto invariante descrito pelas equações do regulador. Com base nesta formulação, teoremas de estabilidade e desempenho são obtidos com condições na forma de desigualdades matriciais, permitindo o uso de otimização numérica para análise e síntese de controladores estabilizantes. No próximo capítulo, a formulação é estendida para a presença de saturação no sinal de controle, onde uma nova condição de setor é proposta para tratar esta não-linearidade adicional. Desta forma, novos teoremas são obtidos tanto para análise quanto para síntese de controladores estabilizantes incluindo compensadores anti-windup. No capítulo final da metodologia, considera-se uma abordagem de regulação prática onde soluções numéricas aproximadas podem ser consideradas para as equações do regulador. Novos teoremas de estabilidade voltados para análise e síntese também são obtidos dentro deste panorama prático, onde garante-se um conjunto terminal para a trajetória do erro de saída. Em geral, a grande importância deste trabalho é a possibilidade de solucionar um novo conjunto de problemas de regulação de saída não-linear, anteriormente intratáveis por métodos do estado-da-arte

Model-based Fault Diagnosis and Fault Accommodation for Space Missions : Application to the Rendezvous Phase of the MSR Mission

The work addressed in this thesis draws expertise from actions undertaken between the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA), the industry Thales Alenia Space (TAS) and the IMS laboratory (laboratoirede l’Intégration du Matériau au Système) which develop new generations of integrated Guidance, Navigationand Control (GNC) units with fault detection and tolerance capabilities. The reference mission isthe ESA’s Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. The presented work focuses on the terminal rendezvoussequence of the MSR mission which corresponds to the last few hundred meters until the capture. Thechaser vehicle is the MSR Orbiter, while the passive target is a diameter spherical container. The objectiveat control level is a capture achievement with an accuracy better than a few centimeter. The research workaddressed in this thesis is concerned by the development of model-based Fault Detection and Isolation(FDI) and Fault Tolerant Control (FTC) approaches that could significantly increase the operational andfunctional autonomy of the chaser during rendezvous, and more generally, of spacecraft involved in deepspace missions. Since redundancy exist in the sensors and since the reaction wheels are not used duringthe rendezvous phase, the work presented in this thesis focuses only on the thruster-based propulsionsystem. The investigated faults have been defined in accordance with ESA and TAS requirements andfollowing their experiences. The presented FDI/FTC approaches relies on hardware redundancy in sensors,control redirection and control re-allocation methods and a hierarchical FDI including signal-basedapproaches at sensor level, model-based approaches for thruster fault detection/isolation and trajectorysafety monitoring. Carefully selected performance and reliability indices together with Monte Carlo simulationcampaigns, using a high-fidelity industrial simulator, demonstrate the viability of the proposedapproaches.Les travaux de recherche traités dans cette thèse s’appuient sur l’expertise des actionsmenées entre l’Agence spatiale européenne (ESA), l’industrie Thales Alenia Space (TAS) et le laboratoirede l’Intégration du Matériau au Système (IMS) qui développent de nouvelles générations d’unités intégréesde guidage, navigation et pilotage (GNC) avec une fonction de détection des défauts et de tolérance desdéfauts. La mission de référence retenue dans cette thèse est la mission de retour d’échantillons martiens(Mars Sample Return, MSR) de l’ESA. Ce travail se concentre sur la séquence terminale du rendez-vous dela mission MSR qui correspond aux dernières centaines de mètres jusqu’à la capture. Le véhicule chasseurest l’orbiteur MSR (chasseur), alors que la cible passive est un conteneur sphérique. L’objectif au niveaude contrôle est de réaliser la capture avec une précision inférieure à quelques centimètres. Les travaux derecherche traités dans cette thèse s’intéressent au développement des approches sur base de modèle de détectionet d’isolation des défauts (FDI) et de commande tolérante aux défaillances (FTC), qui pourraientaugmenter d’une manière significative l’autonomie opérationnelle et fonctionnelle du chasseur pendant lerendez-vous et, d’une manière plus générale, d’un vaisseau spatial impliqué dans des missions située dansl’espace lointain. Dès lors que la redondance existe dans les capteurs et que les roues de réaction ne sontpas utilisées durant la phase de rendez-vous, le travail présenté dans cette thèse est orienté seulementvers les systèmes de propulsion par tuyères. Les défaillances examinées ont été définies conformément auxexigences de l’ESA et de TAS et suivant leurs expériences. Les approches FDI/FTC présentées s’appuientsur la redondance de capteurs, la redirection de contrôle et sur les méthodes de réallocation de contrôle,ainsi que le FDI hiérarchique, y compris les approches à base de signaux au niveau de capteurs, les approchesà base de modèle de détection/localisation de défauts de propulseur et la surveillance de sécuritéde trajectoire. Utilisant un simulateur industriel de haute-fidélité, les indices de performance et de fiabilitéFDI, qui ont été soigneusement choisis accompagnés des campagnes de simulation de robustesse/sensibilitéMonte Carlo, démontrent la viabilité des approches proposées