An Energy-Balancing Perspective of Interconnection and Damping Assignment Control of Nonlinear Systems

Stabilization of nonlinear feedback passive systems is achieved assigning a storage function with a minimum at the desired equilibrium. For physical systems a natural candidate storage function is the difference between the stored and the supplied energies—leading to the so-called Energy-Balancing control, whose underlying stabilization mechanism is particularly appealing. Unfortunately, energy-balancing stabilization is stymied by the existence of pervasive dissipation, that appears in many engineering applications. To overcome the dissipation obstacle the method of Interconnection and Damping Assignment, that endows the closed-loop system with a special—port-controlled Hamiltonian—structure, has been proposed. If, as in most practical examples, the open-loop system already has this structure, and the damping is not pervasive, both methods are equivalent. In this brief note we show that the methods are also equivalent, with an alternative definition of the supplied energy, when the damping is pervasive. Instrumental for our developments is the observation that, swapping the damping terms in the classical dissipation inequality, we can establish passivity of port-controlled Hamiltonian systems with respect to some new external variables—but with the same storage function.

Gradient System Modelling of Matrix Converters with Input and Output Filters

Due to its complexity, the dynamics of matrix converters are usually neglected in controller design. However, increasing demands on reduced harmonic generation and higher bandwidths makes it necessary to study large-signal dynamics. A unified methodology that considers matrix converters, including input and output filters, as gradient systems is presented.

On Brayton and Moser’s Missing Stability Theorem

In the early sixties Brayton and Moser proved three theorems concerning the stability of nonlinear electrical circuits. The applicability of each theorem depends on three different conditions on the type of admissible nonlinearities in circuit. Roughly speaking, this means that the theorems apply to either circuits that contain purely linear resistors or conductors—combined with linear or nonlinear inductors and capacitors, or to circuits that contain purely linear inductors and capacitors—combined with linear or nonlinear resistors and conductors. This brief note presents a generalization of Brayton and Moser’s stability theorems that also includes the analysis of circuits that contain nonlinear resistors, conductors, inductors and/or capacitors at the same time