Synchronization Problems in Networks of Nonlinear Agents

Over the last years, consensus and synchronization problems have been a popular topic in the systems and control community. This interest is motivated by the fact that, in several fields of application, a certain number of agents is interacting or has to cooperate to achieve a certain task. Robotic swarms, sensor networks, power networks, biological networks are only few outstanding examples where networks of agents displays behaviors which can be modeled and studied by means of consensus and synchronisation techniques. In this thesis we consider a general class of networked nonlinear systems in different operating frameworks and design control architecture to force the systems to reach synchronization and consensus on a target behavior. In particular, we consider the case of homogeneous and heterogeneous nonlinear agents with a static communication topology and design a static high-gain-based diffusive coupling and an internal model-based regulator respectively, to solve the problem of consensus. Then, we analyze the case of dynamical links and show under which conditions, synchronization for homogeneous nonlinear systems can be achieved. Depending on the structure of the dynamic links at hand, static and dynamic regulators (based on the concept extended state observers) are proposed. Furthermore, we address the problem of disconnected topology and switching topology and derive under which conditions agents reach cluster synchronization and synchronization respectively. Last, we consider the problem of a sampled exchange of information between the agents and design a triggering rule locally at each agent such that the overall network reaches synchronization

Benelux meeting on systems and control, 23rd, March 17-19, 2004, Helvoirt, The Netherlands

Book of abstract

Robust Hybrid Systems for Control, Learning, and Optimization in Networked Dynamical Systems

The deployment of advanced real-time control and optimization strategies in socially-integratedengineering systems could significantly improve our quality of life whilecreating jobs and economic opportunity. However, in cyber-physical systems such assmart grids, transportation networks, healthcare, and robotic systems, there still existseveral challenges that prevent the implementation of intelligent control strategies.These challenges include the existence of limited communication networks, dynamicand stochastic environments, multiple decision makers interacting with the system,and complex hybrid dynamics emerging from the feedback interconnection of physicalprocesses and computational devices.In this dissertation, we study the problem of designing robust control and optimizationalgorithms for cyber-physical systems using the framework of hybrid dynamicalsystems. We propose different theoretical frameworks for the design and analysis offeedback mechanisms that optimize the performance of dynamical systems without requiringan explicit characterization of their mathematical model, i.e., in a model-freeway. The closed-loop system that emerges of the interconnection of the plant with thefeedback mechanism describes, in general, a set-valued hybrid dynamical system. Thesetypes of systems combine continuous-time and discrete-time dynamics, and they usuallylack the uniqueness of solutions property. The framework of set-valued hybriddynamical systems allows us to study many complex dynamical systems that emerge indifferent engineering applications, such as networked multi-agent systems with switching graphs, non-smooth mechanical systems, dynamic pricing mechanisms in transportationsystems, autonomous robots with logic-based controllers, etc. We proposea step-by-step approach to the design of different types of discrete-time, continuous-time,hybrid, and stochastic controllers for different types of applications, extendingand generalizing different results in the literature in the area of extremum seeking control,sampled-data extremization, robust synchronization, and stochastic learning innetworked systems. Our theoretical results are illustrated via different simulations andnumerical examples

Guidance and robust control methods for the approach phase between two orbital vehicles with coupling between translational and rotational motions

Les techniques liées au vol en formation et aux opérations de proximité de satellites autonomes font partie des technologies opérationnelles spatiales les plus marquantes et les plus ambitieuses de ces dernières années. En particulier, cela nécessite la complète maitrise des phases de rendez-vous proche et de survol par un satellite actif avec un satellite, une station ou un débris passif. Le développement de systèmes GNC (Guidage Navigation Contrôle) associés performants et sûrs repose sur la connaissance d'un modèle dynamique réalisant un bon compromis entre faible complexité et prise en compte suffisante des principales caractéristiques dynamiques et cinématiques de ce type de systèmes. La première partie de cette thèse est consacrée au développement d'une modélisation unifiée de la dynamique relative couplée entre un satellite coopératif chasseur et un satellite cible non coopérative. En effet, lorsque deux satellites sont proches l'un de l'autre, ils ne peuvent plus être traités comme des masses ponctuelles, car leur forme et leur taille affectent le mouvement relatif entre les points de masse décentralisés, conduisant à un couplage des mouvements de translation et de rotation. Ce développement est abordé de manière progressive: le mouvement de translation relatif non linéaire est décrit sous hypothèses képlériennes dans le repère orbital de la cible ainsi que le modèle linéarisé associé. Ensuite, le modèle non linéaire d'attitude relative est présenté au moyen des paramètres d'Euler-Rodrigues. Enfin, le formalisme des quaternions duaux est utilisé afin d'obtenir le modèle relatif couplé en translation et en attitude. La phase de modélisation du mouvement relatif linéaire de translation a ainsi permis de mettre en évidence certaines transformations de coordonnées conduisant à une caractérisation intéressante des trajectoires périodiques du chasseur et ainsi de proposer un premier type de loi de contrôle de guidage pour la phase d'approche et de survol. Dans l'ensemble de notre travail, nous considérons un chasseur équipé de propulseurs chimiques et l'hypothèse classique des poussées impulsionnelles. Ce type de systèmes dynamiques conciliant dynamique continue et contrôle impulsionnel se définit naturellement comme une classe particulière de systèmes dynamiques hybrides. Plusieurs lois de contrôle hybrides sont alors proposées afin de stabiliser le chasseur sur une trajectoire de référence périodique proche de la cible. Les propriétés de stabilité et de convergence de ces différentes lois sont analysées et de nombreuses simulations numériques montrent les forces et les faiblesses de chaque contrôleur en termes d'indices de performance comme le temps de convergence, la consommation ainsi que des contraintes de sécurité. Dans un second temps, des contraintes opérationnelles supplémentaires (contraintes de visibilité par exemple) sont prises en considération en imposant une direction d'approche rectiligne (glideslope) au chasseur. Cette trajectoire impose au satellite chasseur de suivre une droite dans n'importe quelle direction du repère local reliant l'emplacement courant du chasseur à sa destination finale. Sous l'hypothèse de propulsion impulsionnelle, les résultats existant dans la littérature pour ce type d'approche ont été généralisés aux orbites elliptiques en identifiant une nouvelle formulation du problème comprenant des degrés de liberté utiles qui permettent de minimiser la consommation de carburant tout en contrôlant l'excursion de la trajectoire libre en dehors de la droite de glideslope en la confinant dans un couloir d'approche défini par l'utilisateur. La synthèse des lois de guidage ainsi obtenues repose sur la résolution de problèmes d'optimisation SDP dans le cas général ou linéaire pour les cas plus simples d'approche standards du type V-bar ou R-bar.The techniques related to formation flying and proximity operations of autonomous satellites belong to the most significant and challenging operational space technologies of the last years. In particular, they require full mastery of the close-range rendezvous and observation phases by an active satellite with a passive satellite, station or debris. The development of efficient and safe associated GNC systems relies on the knowledge of a dynamic model that achieves a good trade-off between low complexity and sufficient inclusion of the main dynamic and kinematic characteristics of this type of systems.The first part of this thesis is devoted to the development of a unified modeling of the relative coupled dynamics between a cooperative chaser satellite and a non-cooperative target satellite. Indeed, when two satellites are close to each other, they can no longer be treated as point masses because their shape and size affect the relative motion between the decentralized points, leading to a translational-attitude motions coupling. This development is addressed in a progressive way: the relative nonlinear translational motion is described under Keplerian assumptions in the target's orbital reference frame, as well as the associated linearized model. Then, the nonlinear relative attitude model is presented by means of the Euler-Rodrigues parameters. Finally, the dual quaternion formalism is used to obtain the relative translational and attitude coupled model. The modeling phase concerning the linear relative translational motion has allowed us to highlight certain coordinates transformations leading to an interesting characterization of the chaser's periodic trajectories and thus, to propose a first type of control law for the close-phase rendezvous and observation phases.All along this work, we consider a chaser satellite equipped with chemical thrusters under the classical hypothesis of impulsive thrusts. This type of dynamic systems gathering continuous dynamics and impulsive control naturally belongs to a particular class of dynamical hybrid systems. Several hybrid control laws are then proposed in order to stabilize the chaser on a periodic reference trajectory close to the target. The stability and convergence properties of these different laws are analysed and several numerical simulations show the strengths and weaknesses of each controller in terms of performance indices such as convergence time, consumption and safety constraints. In a second step, additional operational constraints (line-of-sight constraints for example) are taken into account by imposing a rectilinear (glideslope) direction to the chaser. This trajectory requires the chaser satellite to follow a straight line in any direction of the local reference frame and connecting the current location of the chaser to its final destination. Under the impulsive propulsion assumptions, the results in the literature for this type of approach have been generalized to elliptic orbits by identifying a new formulation of the problem including useful degrees of freedom, which allow minimizing the fuel consumption while controlling the humps of the trajectory outside the glideslope line by enclosing it in a user-defined approach corridor. Guidance laws are therefore synthetized via the solution of an SDP optimisation problem in the general case and via a linear programming when considering standard cases like the V-bar or R-bar approaches

Advances in PID Control

Since the foundation and up to the current state-of-the-art in control engineering, the problems of PID control steadily attract great attention of numerous researchers and remain inexhaustible source of new ideas for process of control system design and industrial applications. PID control effectiveness is usually caused by the nature of dynamical processes, conditioned that the majority of the industrial dynamical processes are well described by simple dynamic model of the first or second order. The efficacy of PID controllers vastly falls in case of complicated dynamics, nonlinearities, and varying parameters of the plant. This gives a pulse to further researches in the field of PID control. Consequently, the problems of advanced PID control system design methodologies, rules of adaptive PID control, self-tuning procedures, and particularly robustness and transient performance for nonlinear systems, still remain as the areas of the lively interests for many scientists and researchers at the present time. The recent research results presented in this book provide new ideas for improved performance of PID control applications

Mobile Robots Navigation

Mobile robots navigation includes different interrelated activities: (i) perception, as obtaining and interpreting sensory information; (ii) exploration, as the strategy that guides the robot to select the next direction to go; (iii) mapping, involving the construction of a spatial representation by using the sensory information perceived; (iv) localization, as the strategy to estimate the robot position within the spatial map; (v) path planning, as the strategy to find a path towards a goal location being optimal or not; and (vi) path execution, where motor actions are determined and adapted to environmental changes. The book addresses those activities by integrating results from the research work of several authors all over the world. Research cases are documented in 32 chapters organized within 7 categories next described

Proceedings of the Scientific-Practical Conference "Research and Development - 2016"

talent management; sensor arrays; automatic speech recognition; dry separation technology; oil production; oil waste; laser technolog

Proceedings of the Scientific-Practical Conference "Research and Development - 2016"

talent management; sensor arrays; automatic speech recognition; dry separation technology; oil production; oil waste; laser technolog