Piecewise Linear Control Systems

This thesis treats analysis and design of piecewise linear control systems. Piecewise linear systems capture many of the most common nonlinearities in engineering systems, and they can also be used for approximation of other nonlinear systems. Several aspects of linear systems with quadratic constraints are generalized to piecewise linear systems with piecewise quadratic constraints. It is shown how uncertainty models for linear systems can be extended to piecewise linear systems, and how these extensions give insight into the classical trade-offs between fidelity and complexity of a model. Stability of piecewise linear systems is investigated using piecewise quadratic Lyapunov functions. Piecewise quadratic Lyapunov functions are much more powerful than the commonly used quadratic Lyapunov functions. It is shown how piecewise quadratic Lyapunov functions can be computed via convex optimization in terms of linear matrix inequalities. The computations are based on a compact parameterization of continuous piecewise quadratic functions and conditional analysis using the S-procedure. A unifying framework for computation of a variety of Lyapunov functions via convex optimization is established based on this parameterization. Systems with attractive sliding modes and systems with bounded regions of attraction are also treated. Dissipativity analysis and optimal control problems with piecewise quadratic cost functions are solved via convex optimization. The basic results are extended to fuzzy systems, hybrid systems and smooth nonlinear systems. It is shown how Lyapunov functions with a discontinuous dependence on the discrete state can be computed via convex optimization. An automated procedure for increasing the flexibility of the Lyapunov function candidate is suggested based on linear programming duality. A Matlab toolbox that implements several of the results derived in the thesis is presented

Converse Lyapunov Theorems for Switched Systems in Banach and Hilbert Spaces

We consider switched systems on Banach and Hilbert spaces governed by strongly continuous one-parameter semigroups of linear evolution operators. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for their global exponential stability, uniform with respect to the switching signal, in terms of the existence of a Lyapunov function common to all modes

Lyapunov Approach to Consensus Problems

This paper investigates the weighted-averaging dynamic for unconstrained and constrained consensus problems. Through the use of a suitably defined adjoint dynamic, quadratic Lyapunov comparison functions are constructed to analyze the behavior of weighted-averaging dynamic. As a result, new convergence rate results are obtained that capture the graph structure in a novel way. In particular, the exponential convergence rate is established for unconstrained consensus with the exponent of the order of $1-O(1/(m\log_2m))$. Also, the exponential convergence rate is established for constrained consensus, which extends the existing results limited to the use of doubly stochastic weight matrices

Stability of piecewise affine systems through discontinuous piecewise quadratic Lyapunov functions

State-dependent switched systems characterized by piecewise affine (PWA) dynamics in a polyhedral partition of the state space are considered. Sufficient conditions on the vectors fields such that the solution crosses the common boundaries of the polyhedra are expressed in terms of quadratic inequalities constrained to the polyhedra intersections. A piece-wise quadratic (PWQ) function, not necessarily continuous, is proposed as a candidate Lyapunov function (LF). The sign conditions and the negative jumps at the boundaries are expressed in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) via cone-copositivity. A sufficient condition for the asymptotic stability of the PWA system is then obtained by finding a PWQ-LF through the solution of a set LMIs. Numerical results with a conewise linear system and an opinion dynamics model show the effectiveness of the proposed approach