L -Bounded Robust Control of Nonlinear Cascade Systems

In this paper, we consider the L∞-bounded robust control problem for a class of nonlinear cascade systems with disturbances. Sufficient conditions are provided under which a hard bound is imposed on the system performance measure. The backstepping approach is used for controller design. A practical example is provided to illustrate the method. Key-words. Nonlinear cascade systems, L ∞ bound, robust control, backstepping.

Structurally robust biological networks

Background: The molecular circuitry of living organisms performs remarkably robust regulatory tasks, despite the often intrinsic variability of its components. A large body of research has in fact highlighted that robustness is often a structural property of biological systems. However, there are few systematic methods to mathematically model and describe structural robustness. With a few exceptions, numerical studies are often the preferred approach to this type of investigation. Results: In this paper, we propose a framework to analyze robust stability of equilibria in biological networks. We employ Lyapunov and invariant sets theory, focusing on the structure of ordinary differential equation models. Without resorting to extensive numerical simulations, often necessary to explore the behavior of a model in its parameter space, we provide rigorous proofs of robust stability of known bio-molecular networks. Our results are in line with existing literature. Conclusions: The impact of our results is twofold: on the one hand, we highlight that classical and simple control theory methods are extremely useful to characterize the behavior of biological networks analytically. On the other hand, we are able to demonstrate that some biological networks are robust thanks to their structure and some qualitative properties of the interactions, regardless of the specific values of their parameters

Minimal data rate stabilization of nonlinear systems over networks with large delays

Control systems over networks with a finite data rate can be conveniently modeled as hybrid (impulsive) systems. For the class of nonlinear systems in feedfoward form, we design a hybrid controller which guarantees stability, in spite of the measurement noise due to the quantization, and of an arbitrarily large delay which affects the communication channel. The rate at which feedback packets are transmitted from the sensors to the actuators is shown to be arbitrarily close to the infimal one.Comment: 16 pages; references have now been adde

Large angle reorientation manoeuvre of spacecraft using robust backstepping control

The nonlinear control design problem for large angle reorientation manoeuvre of spacecraft has a proper structure for the direct application of backstepping design as its dynamics and kinematics are naturally in a cascade form. In this paper, the robustness of the backstepping control against the uncertainties in the moment of inertia matrix is investigated and a sufficient condition for the robust stability is derived. Numerical simulations show the validity of the condition