On convergence of infinite matrix products with alternating factors from two sets of matrices

We consider the problem of convergence to zero of matrix products $A_{n}B_{n}\cdots A_{1}B_{1}$ with factors from two sets of matrices, $A_{i}\in\mathscr{A}$ and $B_{i}\in\mathscr{B}$, due to a suitable choice of matrices $\{B_{i}\}$. It is assumed that for any sequence of matrices $\{A_{i}\}$ there is a sequence of matrices $\{B_{i}\}$ such that the corresponding matrix product $A_{n}B_{n}\cdots A_{1}B_{1}$ converges to zero. We show that in this case the convergence of the matrix products under consideration is uniformly exponential, that is, $\|A_{n}B_{n}\cdots A_{1}B_{1}\|\le C\lambda^{n}$, where the constants $C>0$ and $\lambda\in(0,1)$ do not depend on the sequence $\{A_{i}\}$ and the corresponding sequence $\{B_{i}\}$.Comment: 7 pages, 13 bibliography references, expanded Introduction and Section 4 "Remarks and Open Questions", accepted for publication in Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Societ

On stabilizability of switched differential algebraic equations

This paper considers stabilizability of switched differential algebraic equations (DAEs). We first introduce the notion of interval stabilizability and show that under a certain uniformity assumption, stabilizability can be concluded from interval stabilizability. A geometric approach is taken to find necessary and sufficient conditions for interval stabilizability. This geometric approach can also be utilized to derive a novel characterization of controllability

On the stabilization of persistently excited linear systems

We consider control systems of the type $\dot x = A x +\alpha(t)bu$, where $u\in\R$, $(A,b)$ is a controllable pair and $\alpha$ is an unknown time-varying signal with values in $[0,1]$ satisfying a persistent excitation condition i.e., \int_t^{t+T}\al(s)ds\geq \mu for every $t\geq 0$, with $0<\mu\leq T$ independent on $t$. We prove that such a system is stabilizable with a linear feedback depending only on the pair $(T,\mu)$ if the eigenvalues of $A$ have non-positive real part. We also show that stabilizability does not hold for arbitrary matrices $A$. Moreover, the question of whether the system can be stabilized or not with an arbitrarily large rate of convergence gives rise to a bifurcation phenomenon in dependence of the parameter $\mu/T$

Dynamics and control of a class of underactuated mechanical systems

This paper presents a theoretical framework for the dynamics and control of underactuated mechanical systems, defined as systems with fewer inputs than degrees of freedom. Control system formulation of underactuated mechanical systems is addressed and a class of underactuated systems characterized by nonintegrable dynamics relations is identified. Controllability and stabilizability results are derived for this class of underactuated systems. Examples are included to illustrate the results; these examples are of underactuated mechanical systems that are not linearly controllable or smoothly stabilizable

Stabilization of systems with asynchronous sensors and controllers

We study the stabilization of networked control systems with asynchronous sensors and controllers. Offsets between the sensor and controller clocks are unknown and modeled as parametric uncertainty. First we consider multi-input linear systems and provide a sufficient condition for the existence of linear time-invariant controllers that are capable of stabilizing the closed-loop system for every clock offset in a given range of admissible values. For first-order systems, we next obtain the maximum length of the offset range for which the system can be stabilized by a single controller. Finally, this bound is compared with the offset bounds that would be allowed if we restricted our attention to static output feedback controllers.Comment: 32 pages, 6 figures. This paper was partially presented at the 2015 American Control Conference, July 1-3, 2015, the US

Formal synthesis of stabilizing controllers for periodically controlled linear switched systems

In this paper, we address the problem of synthesizing periodic switching controllers for stabilizing a family of linear systems. Our broad approach consists of constructing a finite game graph based on the family of linear systems such that every winning strategy on the game graph corresponds to a stabilizing switching controller for the family of linear systems. The construction of a (finite) game graph, the synthesis of a winning strategy and the extraction of a stabilizing controller are all computationally feasible. We illustrate our method on an example