Trajectory tracking in switched systems: an internal model principle approach: the elliptical billiard system as a benchmark for theory

Sistemi dinamici caratterizzati dall'interazione tra dinamiche continue e discrete sono detti sistemi ibridi. Un sistema switched è un particolare sistema ibrido costituito da una famiglia di sottosistemi a tempo continuo e da una legge che ne regola le transizioni. Questi sistemi hanno numerose applicazioni nel controllo di sistemi meccanici, nell'industria automobilistica e aeronautica, nel controllo del traffico aereo, nell'elettronica di potenza, etc. Questa tesi sarà incentrata sul problema dell'inseguimento asintotico di traiettoria per sistemi switched. Nella prima parte, il problema di inseguimento è stato propriamente definito e risolto prendendo in esame il sistema biliardo ellittico. Al fine di definire una classe di traiettorie di riferimento ammissibili per il sistema biliardo un problema di pianificazione di traiettoria è stato approntato e risolto attraverso l'utilizzo di risultati della teoria dei polinomi non negativi e tecniche LMI. Il problema di inseguimento in presenza di incertezze nei parametri del sistema è stato considerato e risolto sia nel caso di feedback dallo stato che dalla sola posizione. Nella seconda parte della tesi i risultati ottenuti per il sistema biliardo sono stati generalizzati per una classe di sistemi switched con dinamica lineare in ogni modo operazionale, mappe di reset lineari e dimensione dello spazio di stato possibilmente variabile tra i vari modi. In tutti i casi la strategia di controllo proposta è basata su una versione discontinua del principio del modello interno.Dynamical systems that are described by an interaction between continuous and discrete dynamics are called hybrid systems. Their evolution is generally given by equations of motion containing mixtures of logic, discrete-valued or digital dynamics, and continuous-variable or analog dynamics. A switched system is a hybrid dynamical system consisting of a family of continuous-time subsystems and a rule that orchestrates the switching between them. These systems have numerous applications in control of mechanical systems, automotive industry, aircraft and air traffic control, switching power converters, and many others. This thesis will focus on the problem of asymptotic trajectory tracking for switched systems. First, the tracking control problem is properly stated and solved for a controlled elliptical billiard system. In order to find an admissible class of reference trajectories inside the billiards a motion planning problem has been solved by using results from the theory of non-negative polynomials and LMIs techniques. The trajectory tracking problem in presence of uncertainties on the plant parameters has been also considered and solved in both cases of state-feedback and output-feedback. In the second part, the results obtained for the billiard system are generalized for a class of switched systems having linear dynamics in each operating mode, linear reset maps and possible nonuniform state space among the different modes. In all cases the proposed control strategy is based on a dynamic compensator, whose state is subject to discontinuities and whose structure is based on a nonsmooth version of the internal model principle

Value Function Estimation in Optimal Control via Takagi-Sugeno Models and Linear Programming

[ES] La presente Tesis emplea técnicas de programación dinámica y aprendizaje por refuerzo para el control de sistemas no lineales en espacios discretos y continuos. Inicialmente se realiza una revisión de los conceptos básicos de programación dinámica y aprendizaje por refuerzo para sistemas con un número finito de estados. Se analiza la extensión de estas técnicas mediante el uso de funciones de aproximación que permiten ampliar su aplicabilidad a sistemas con un gran número de estados o sistemas continuos. Las contribuciones de la Tesis son: -Se presenta una metodología que combina identificación y ajuste de la función Q, que incluye la identificación de un modelo Takagi-Sugeno, el cálculo de controladores subóptimos a partir de desigualdades matriciales lineales y el consiguiente ajuste basado en datos de la función Q a través de una optimización monotónica. -Se propone una metodología para el aprendizaje de controladores utilizando programación dinámica aproximada a través de programación lineal. La metodología hace que ADP-LP funcione en aplicaciones prácticas de control con estados y acciones continuos. La metodología propuesta estima una cota inferior y superior de la función de valor óptima a través de aproximadores funcionales. Se establecen pautas para los datos y la regularización de regresores con el fin de obtener resultados satisfactorios evitando soluciones no acotadas o mal condicionadas. -Se plantea una metodología bajo el enfoque de programación lineal aplicada a programación dinámica aproximada para obtener una mejor aproximación de la función de valor óptima en una determinada región del espacio de estados. La metodología propone aprender gradualmente una política utilizando datos disponibles sólo en la región de exploración. La exploración incrementa progresivamente la región de aprendizaje hasta obtener una política convergida.[CA] La present Tesi empra tècniques de programació dinàmica i aprenentatge per reforç per al control de sistemes no lineals en espais discrets i continus. Inicialment es realitza una revisió dels conceptes bàsics de programació dinàmica i aprenentatge per reforç per a sistemes amb un nombre finit d'estats. S'analitza l'extensió d'aquestes tècniques mitjançant l'ús de funcions d'aproximació que permeten ampliar la seua aplicabilitat a sistemes amb un gran nombre d'estats o sistemes continus. Les contribucions de la Tesi són: -Es presenta una metodologia que combina identificació i ajust de la funció Q, que inclou la identificació d'un model Takagi-Sugeno, el càlcul de controladors subòptims a partir de desigualtats matricials lineals i el consegüent ajust basat en dades de la funció Q a través d'una optimització monotónica. -Es proposa una metodologia per a l'aprenentatge de controladors utilitzant programació dinàmica aproximada a través de programació lineal. La metodologia fa que ADP-LP funcione en aplicacions pràctiques de control amb estats i accions continus. La metodologia proposada estima una cota inferior i superior de la funció de valor òptima a través de aproximadores funcionals. S'estableixen pautes per a les dades i la regularització de regresores amb la finalitat d'obtenir resultats satisfactoris evitant solucions no fitades o mal condicionades. -Es planteja una metodologia sota l'enfocament de programació lineal aplicada a programació dinàmica aproximada per a obtenir una millor aproximació de la funció de valor òptima en una determinada regió de l'espai d'estats. La metodologia proposa aprendre gradualment una política utilitzant dades disponibles només a la regió d'exploració. L'exploració incrementa progressivament la regió d'aprenentatge fins a obtenir una política convergida.[EN] The present Thesis employs dynamic programming and reinforcement learning techniques in order to obtain optimal policies for controlling nonlinear systems with discrete and continuous states and actions. Initially, a review of the basic concepts of dynamic programming and reinforcement learning is carried out for systems with a finite number of states. After that, the extension of these techniques to systems with a large number of states or continuous state systems is analysed using approximation functions. The contributions of the Thesis are: -A combined identification/Q-function fitting methodology, which involves identification of a Takagi-Sugeno model, computation of (sub)optimal controllers from Linear Matrix Inequalities, and the subsequent data-based fitting of Q-function via monotonic optimisation. -A methodology for learning controllers using approximate dynamic programming via linear programming is presented. The methodology makes that ADP-LP approach can work in practical control applications with continuous state and input spaces. The proposed methodology estimates a lower bound and upper bound of the optimal value function through functional approximators. Guidelines are provided for data and regressor regularisation in order to obtain satisfactory results avoiding unbounded or ill-conditioned solutions. -A methodology of approximate dynamic programming via linear programming in order to obtain a better approximation of the optimal value function in a specific region of state space. The methodology proposes to gradually learn a policy using data available only in the exploration region. The exploration progressively increases the learning region until a converged policy is obtained.This work was supported by the National Department of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of Ecuador (SENESCYT), and the Spanish ministry of Economy and European Union, grant DPI2016-81002-R (AEI/FEDER,UE). The author also received the grant for a predoctoral stay, Programa de Becas Iberoamérica- Santander Investigación 2018, of the Santander Bank.Díaz Iza, HP. (2020). Value Function Estimation in Optimal Control via Takagi-Sugeno Models and Linear Programming [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/139135TESI

Feasible, Robust and Reliable Automation and Control for Autonomous Systems

The Special Issue book focuses on highlighting current research and developments in the automation and control field for autonomous systems as well as showcasing state-of-the-art control strategy approaches for autonomous platforms. The book is co-edited by distinguished international control system experts currently based in Sweden, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom, with contributions from reputable researchers from China, Austria, France, the United States of America, Poland, and Hungary, among many others. The editors believe the ten articles published within this Special Issue will be highly appealing to control-systems-related researchers in applications typified in the fields of ground, aerial, maritime vehicles, and robotics as well as industrial audiences

Robust Model Predictive Control for Linear Parameter Varying Systems along with Exploration of its Application in Medical Mobile Robots

This thesis seeks to develop a robust model predictive controller (MPC) for Linear Parameter Varying (LPV) systems. LPV models based on input-output display are employed. We aim to improve robust MPC methods for LPV systems with an input-output display. This improvement will be examined from two perspectives. First, the system must be stable in conditions of uncertainty (in signal scheduling or due to disturbance) and perform well in both tracking and regulation problems. Secondly, the proposed method should be practical, i.e., it should have a reasonable computational load and not be conservative. Firstly, an interpolation approach is utilized to minimize the conservativeness of the MPC. The controller is calculated as a linear combination of a set of offline predefined control laws. The coefficients of these offline controllers are derived from a real-time optimization problem. The control gains are determined to ensure stability and increase the terminal set. Secondly, in order to test the system's robustness to external disturbances, a free control move was added to the control law. Also, a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) algorithm is applied for online optimization, showing that this optimization method has better speed and accuracy than traditional algorithms. The proposed controller was compared with two methods (robust MPC and MPC with LPV model based on input-output) in reference tracking and disturbance rejection scenarios. It was shown that the proposed method works well in both parts. However, two other methods could not deal with the disturbance. Thirdly, a support vector machine was introduced to identify the input-output LPV model to estimate the output. The estimated model was compared with the actual nonlinear system outputs, and the identification was shown to be effective. As a consequence, the controller can accurately follow the reference. Finally, an interpolation-based MPC with free control moves is implemented for a wheeled mobile robot in a hospital setting, where an RNN solves the online optimization problem. The controller was compared with a robust MPC and MPC-LPV in reference tracking, disturbance rejection, online computational load, and region of attraction. The results indicate that our proposed method surpasses and can navigate quickly and reliably while avoiding obstacles

Recent Advances in Robust Control

Robust control has been a topic of active research in the last three decades culminating in H_2/H_\infty and \mu design methods followed by research on parametric robustness, initially motivated by Kharitonov's theorem, the extension to non-linear time delay systems, and other more recent methods. The two volumes of Recent Advances in Robust Control give a selective overview of recent theoretical developments and present selected application examples. The volumes comprise 39 contributions covering various theoretical aspects as well as different application areas. The first volume covers selected problems in the theory of robust control and its application to robotic and electromechanical systems. The second volume is dedicated to special topics in robust control and problem specific solutions. Recent Advances in Robust Control will be a valuable reference for those interested in the recent theoretical advances and for researchers working in the broad field of robotics and mechatronics