Lyapunov based optimal control of a class of nonlinear systems

Optimal control of nonlinear systems is in fact difficult since it requires the solution to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation which has no closed-form solution. In contrast to offline and/or online iterative schemes for optimal control, this dissertation in the form of five papers focuses on the design of iteration free, online optimal adaptive controllers for nonlinear discrete and continuous-time systems whose dynamics are completely or partially unknown even when the states not measurable. Thus, in Paper I, motivated by homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine dynamics, a neural network-based infinite horizon robust optimal controller is introduced for uncertain nonaffine nonlinear discrete-time systems. First, the nonaffine system is transformed into an affine-like representation while the resulting higher order terms are mitigated by using a robust term. The optimal adaptive controller for the affinelike system solves HJB equation and identifies the system dynamics provided a target set point is given. Since it is difficult to define the set point a priori in Paper II, an extremum seeking control loop is designed while maximizing an uncertain output function. On the other hand, Paper III focuses on the infinite horizon online optimal tracking control of known nonlinear continuous-time systems in strict feedback form by using state and output feedback by relaxing the initial admissible controller requirement. Paper IV applies the optimal controller from Paper III to an underactuated helicopter attitude and position tracking problem. In Paper V, the optimal control of nonlinear continuous-time systems in strict feedback form from Paper III is revisited by using state and output feedback when the internal dynamics are unknown. Closed-loop stability is demonstrated for all the controller designs developed in this dissertation by using Lyapunov analysis --Abstract, page iv

Stability analysis and controller design for switched time-delay systems

In this thesis, the stability analysis and control synthesis for uncertain switched time-delay systems are investigated. It is known that a wide variety of real-world systems are subject to uncertainty and also time-delay in their dynamics. These characteristics, if not taken into consideration in analysis and synthesis, can lead to important problems such as performance degradation or instability in a control system. On the other hand, the switching phenomenon often appears in numerous applications, where abrupt change is inevitable in the system model. Switching behavior in this type of systems can be triggered either by time, or by the state of the system. A theoretical framework to study various features of switched systems in the presence of uncertainty and time-delay (both neutral and retarded) would be of particular interest in important applications such as network control systems, power systems and communication networks. To address the problem of robust stability for the class of uncertain switched systems with unknown time-varying delay discussed above, sufficient conditions in the form of linear matrix inequalities (LMI) are derived. An adaptive switching control algorithm is then proposed for the stabilization of uncertain discrete time-delay systems subject to disturbance. It is assumed that the discrete time-delay system is highly uncertain, such that a single fixed controller cannot stabilize it effectively. Sufficient conditions are provided subsequently for the stability of switched time-delay systems with polytopic-type uncertainties. Moreover, an adaptive control scheme is provided to stabilize the uncertain neutral time-delay systems when the upper bounds on the system uncertainties are not available a priori . Simulations are provided throughout the thesis to support the theoretical result

Adaptive Output Feedback Model Predictive Control

Model predictive control (MPC) for uncertain systems in the presence of hard constraints on state and input is a non-trivial problem, and the challenge is increased manyfold in the absence of state measurements. In this paper, we propose an adaptive output feedback MPC technique, based on a novel combination of an adaptive observer and robust MPC, for single-input single-output discrete-time linear time-invariant systems. At each time instant, the adaptive observer provides estimates of the states and the system parameters that are then leveraged in the MPC optimization routine while robustly accounting for the estimation errors. The solution to the optimization problem results in a homothetic tube where the state estimate trajectory lies. The true state evolves inside a larger outer tube obtained by augmenting a set, invariant to the state estimation error, around the homothetic tube sections. The proof for recursive feasibility for the proposed `homothetic and invariant' two-tube approach is provided, along with simulation results on an academic system.Comment: 6 page

A switching feedback control approach for persistence of managed resources

An adaptive switching feedback control scheme is proposed for classes of discrete-time, positive difference equations, or systems of equations. In overview, the objective is to choose a control strategy which ensures persistence of the state, consequently avoiding zero which corresponds to absence or extinction. A robust feedback control solution is proposed as the effects of different management actions are assumed to be uncertain. Our motivating application is to the conservation of dynamic resources, such as populations, which are naturally positive quantities and where discrete and distinct courses of management actions, or control strategies, are available. The theory is illustrated with examples from population ecology

Adaptive Discrete Second Order Sliding Mode Control with Application to Nonlinear Automotive Systems

Sliding mode control (SMC) is a robust and computationally efficient model-based controller design technique for highly nonlinear systems, in the presence of model and external uncertainties. However, the implementation of the conventional continuous-time SMC on digital computers is limited, due to the imprecisions caused by data sampling and quantization, and the chattering phenomena, which results in high frequency oscillations. One effective solution to minimize the effects of data sampling and quantization imprecisions is the use of higher order sliding modes. To this end, in this paper, a new formulation of an adaptive second order discrete sliding mode control (DSMC) is presented for a general class of multi-input multi-output (MIMO) uncertain nonlinear systems. Based on a Lyapunov stability argument and by invoking the new Invariance Principle, not only the asymptotic stability of the controller is guaranteed, but also the adaptation law is derived to remove the uncertainties within the nonlinear plant dynamics. The proposed adaptive tracking controller is designed and tested in real-time for a highly nonlinear control problem in spark ignition combustion engine during transient operating conditions. The simulation and real-time processor-in-the-loop (PIL) test results show that the second order single-input single-output (SISO) DSMC can improve the tracking performances up to 90%, compared to a first order SISO DSMC under sampling and quantization imprecisions, in the presence of modeling uncertainties. Moreover, it is observed that by converting the engine SISO controllers to a MIMO structure, the overall controller performance can be enhanced by 25%, compared to the SISO second order DSMC, because of the dynamics coupling consideration within the MIMO DSMC formulation.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Robust controller design for input-delayed systems using predictive feedback and an uncertainty estimator

[EN] This paper deals with the problem of stabilizing a class of input-delayed systems with (possibly) nonlinear uncertainties by using explicit delay compensation. It is well known that plain predictive schemes lack robustness with respect to uncertain model parameters. In this work, an uncertainty estimator is derived for input-delay systems and combined with a modified state predictor, which uses current available information of the estimated uncertainties. Furthermore, based on Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals, a computable criterion to check robust stability of the closed-loop is developed and cast into a minimization problem constrained to an LMI. Additionally, for a given input delay, an iterative-LMI algorithm is proposed to design stabilizing tuning parameters. 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Adaptive Backstepping Controller Design for Stochastic Jump Systems

In this technical note, we improve the results in a paper by Shi et al., in which problems of stochastic stability and sliding mode control for a class of linear continuous-time systems with stochastic jumps were considered. However, the system considered is switching stochastically between different subsystems, the dynamics of the jump system can not stay on each sliding surface of subsystems forever, therefore, it is difficult to determine whether the closed-loop system is stochastically stable. In this technical note, the backstepping techniques are adopted to overcome the problem in a paper by Shi et al.. The resulting closed-loop system is bounded in probability. It has been shown that the adaptive control problem for the Markovian jump systems is solvable if a set of coupled linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) have solutions. A numerical example is given to show the potential of the proposed techniques