Adaptive control of uncertain nonlinear systems using mixed backstepping and Lyapunov redesign techniques

In this paper, a robust adaptive control law for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems is proposed. The proposed controller guarantees asymptotic output tracking of systems in the strict-feedback form with unknown static parameters, and matched and unmatched dynamic uncertainties. This controller takes advantages of a robust stability property of the Lyapunov redesign method and a systematic design procedure of the backstepping technique. In fact, the backstepping technique is employed to enrich the Lyapunov redesign method to compensate for not only matched - but also unmatched-uncertainties. On the other hand, using the Lyapunov redesign method in each step of the conventional backstepping technique makes backstepping robust. The suggested controller is designed through repeatedly utilizing the Lyapunov redesign method in each step of the backstepping technique. Simulation results reveal the efficiency of the Lyapunov redesign-based backstepping controller.     

Lyapunov theorems for systems described by retarded functional differential equations

Lyapunov-like characterizations for non-uniform in time and uniform robust global asymptotic stability of uncertain systems described by retarded functional differential equations are provided.     

Stability analysis of a class of uncertain switched systems on time scale using Lyapunov functions

This paper deals with the stability analysis of a class of uncertain switched systems on non-uniform time domains. The considered class consists of dynamical systems which commute between an uncertain continuous-time subsystem and an uncertain discrete-time subsystem during a certain period of time. The theory of dynamic equations on time scale is used to study the stability of these systems on non-uniform time domains formed by a union of disjoint intervals with variable length and variable gap. Using the concept of common Lyapunov function, sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the asymptotic stability of this class of systems on time scale with bounded graininess function. The proposed scheme is used to study the leader–follower consensus problem under intermittent information transmissions.     

Guaranteed asymptotic stability for a class of uncertain linear dynamical systems

We consider a class of linear dynamical systems with bounded, Lebesgue-measurable uncertainties in the system and input matrices as well as in the input itself. A state feedback control is derived, which guarantees global, uniform asymptotic stability of the zero state; this control is continuous, except at the zero state.This paper is based in part on research supported by the National Science Foundation.     

Stabilization of nonlinear switched systems using control Lyapunov functions

In this paper, we study the stabilization of general nonlinear switched systems by using control Lyapunov functions. The concept of control Lyapunov function for nonlinear control systems is generalized to switched control systems. The first part of our contribution provides a necessary and sufficient condition of stabilization. The main idea is to use a common control Lyapunov function; this is achieved with the converse Lyapunov theorem dedicated to switched systems. In the second part, an explicit construction of a common control Lyapunov function is addressed with respect to a finite family of switched systems. The approach uses a family of control Lyapunov functions attached to the subsystems.     

New results for global stability of a class of neutral-type neural systems with time delays

This paper studies the global convergence properties of a class of neutral-type neural networks with discrete time delays. This class of neutral systems includes Cohen–Grossberg neural networks, Hopfield neural networks and cellular neural networks. Based on the Lyapunov stability theorems, some delay independent sufficient conditions for the global asymptotic stability of the equilibrium point for this class of neutral-type systems are derived. It is shown that the results presented in this paper for neutral-type delayed neural networks are the generalization of a recently reported stability result. A numerical example is also given to demonstrate the applicability of our proposed stability criteria.     

A Hybrid Robust Adaptive Sliding Mode Controller for partially modelled systems: Discrete-time Lyapunov stability analysis and application

This work presents a new discrete-time Hybrid Robust Adaptive Sliding Mode Controller, developed from the union of a Robust Model Reference Adaptive Controller, an Adaptive Sliding Mode Controller, and an Adaptive One Sample Ahead Preview Controller in an unique control structure. Robust Model Reference Adaptive Controller is an adequate direct adaptive control strategy to control partially known plants, but can present slow closed-loop response to ensure global stability. Therefore, an adaptive One Sample Ahead Preview controller is incorporated to accelerate transient regimes, once it tries to track reference signal in one sample. Furthermore, an adaptive Sliding Mode Controller is also merged in the controller structure to help controller performance in transient regime and it also improves relevantly the steady state response in a scenario of several unmodelled dynamics Stability analysis of this controller using Lyapunov criterion and its robustness proof are provided, considering the plant subjected to unmodelled dynamics, which provides controller design constraints. These proofs show the controller is globally stable, and the tracking error tends to a residual set in steady state, even in the presence of matched and unmatched dynamics. Numerical simulations of the Hybrid Robust Adaptive Sliding Mode Controller applied on an unstable nonminimum-phase plant are presented, where only part of the overall plant is take into consideration for controller design. Results corroborate the feasibility and robustness of the developed control strategy and the performance superiority when compared to an adaptive One Sample Ahead Preview controller, with a 75% tracking error reduction in a scenario of several unmodelled dynamics.     

Non-coercive Lyapunov functions for infinite-dimensional systems

We show that the existence of a non-coercive Lyapunov function is sufficient for uniform global asymptotic stability (UGAS) of infinite-dimensional systems with external disturbances provided the speed of decay is measured in terms of the norm of the state and an additional mild assumption is satisfied. For evolution equations in Banach spaces with Lipschitz continuous nonlinearities these additional assumptions become especially simple. The results encompass some recent results on linear switched systems on Banach spaces. Finally, we derive new non-coercive converse Lyapunov theorems and give some examples showing the necessity of our assumptions.     

Disturbance decoupling and model matching problems for discrete-time systems with time-varying delays

In this paper, the disturbance decoupling problem and the model matching problem for discrete-time linear systems with time-varying delays are considered. Solvability of the above problems is characterized by means of structural necessary and sufficient conditions that can be checked by algorithmic procedures. The basic method used to analyze the considered problems consists in representing the discrete-time linear systems with time-varying delays as switching linear systems, whose properties can be studied by a powerful structural approach. In this way, the considered control problems can be reduced to the corresponding problems for switched linear systems, whose solvability has been recently characterized.     

Deterministic and stochastic approaches to supervisory control design for networked systems with time-varying communication delays

This paper proposes a supervisory control structure for networked systems with time-varying delays. The control structure, in which a supervisor triggers the most appropriate controller from a multi-controller unit, aims at improving the closed-loop performance relative to what can be obtained using a single robust controller. Our analysis considers average dwell-time switching and is based on a novel multiple Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional. We develop stability conditions that can be verified by semi-definite programming, and show that the associated state feedback synthesis problem also can be solved using convex optimization tools. Extensions of the analysis and synthesis procedures to the case when the evolution of the delay mode is described by a Markov chain are also developed. Simulations on small and large-scale networked control systems are used to illustrate the effectiveness of our approach.     

Output feedback guaranteed cost control of uncertain linear discrete systems with interval time-varying delays

This paper deals with output feedback guaranteed cost control problem for a general class of uncertain linear discrete delay systems, where the state and the observation output are subjected to interval time-varying delay. The proposed output feedback controller uses the observation measurement to exponentially stabilize the closed-loop system and guarantee an adequate level of system performance. By constructing a set of augmented Lyapunov–Krasovskii functionals, a delay-dependent condition for the robust output feedback guaranteed cost control is established in terms of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Three numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method.     

Filtering for a class of nonlinear discrete-time stochastic systems with state delays

In this paper, the filtering problem is investigated for a class of nonlinear discrete-time stochastic systems with state delays. We aim at designing a full-order filter such that the dynamics of the estimation error is guaranteed to be stochastically, exponentially, ultimately bounded in the mean square, for all admissible nonlinearities and time delays. First, an algebraic matrix inequality approach is developed to deal with the filter analysis problem, and sufficient conditions are derived for the existence of the desired filters. Then, based on the generalized inverse theory, the filter design problem is tackled and a set of the desired filters is explicitly characterized. A simulation example is provided to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed design method.     

Delay-dependent exponential stabilization for uncertain linear systems with interval non-differentiable time-varying delays

In this paper, the problem of exponential stabilization for a class of linear systems with time-varying delay is studied. The time delay is a continuous function belonging to a given interval, which means that the lower and upper bounds for the time-varying delay are available, but the delay function is not necessary to be differentiable. Based on the construction of improved Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals combined with Leibniz-Newton’s formula, new delay-dependent sufficient conditions for the exponential stabilization of the systems are first established in terms of LMIs. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate that the derived conditions are much less conservative than those given in the literature.     

On the uniform exponential stability of a wide class of linear time-delay systems

This paper deals with the global uniform exponential stability independent of delay of time-delay linear and time-invariant systems subject to point and distributed delays for the initial conditions being continuous real functions except possibly on a set of zero measure of bounded discontinuities. It is assumed that the delay-free system as well as an auxiliary one are globally uniformly exponentially stable and globally uniform exponential stability independent of delay, respectively. The auxiliary system is typically a part of the overall dynamics of the delayed system but not necessarily the isolated undelayed dynamics as usually assumed in the literature. Since there is a great freedom in setting such an auxiliary system, the obtained stability conditions are very useful in a wide class of practical applications.     

Stability analysis of a class of nonlinear positive switched systems with delays

This paper addresses the stability problem of delayed nonlinear positive switched systems whose subsystems are all positive. Both discrete-time systems and continuous-time systems are studied. In our analysis, the delays in systems can be unbounded. Two conditions are established to test the local asymptotic stability of the considered systems. The method to compute the domains of attraction is also proposed provided that the system is locally asymptotically stable. When reduced to general nonlinear positive systems, that is, the considered switched system consists of only one mode, an interesting conclusion follows that the proposed nonlinear positive system is locally asymptotically stable for all admissible delays and nonnegative nonlinearities which satisfy an extra condition at the origin, if and only if the system represented by the linear part is asymptotically stable for all admissible delays. Finally, a numerical example is presented to illustrate the obtained results.     

Adaptive tracking control for a class of switched uncertain nonlinear systems under a new state-dependent switching law

This paper deals with the problem of adaptive fuzzy tracking control for a class of switched uncertain nonlinear systems. Fuzzy logic systems are utilized to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions, and the adaptive backstepping and dynamic surface control techniques are adopted. First, a new state-dependent switching method is proposed. By introducing convex combination technique and designing a state-dependent switching law, only the solvability of the adaptive tracking control problem for a convex combination of the subsystems is necessary. Second, a new common Lyapunov function with switched adaptive parameters is constructed to reduce the conservatism. Third, to avoid Zeno behavior, a modified state-dependent switching law with dwell time is proposed. It is shown that under the proposed control and switching laws, all the signals of the closed-loop system are bounded and all the state tracking errors can converge to a priori accuracy, even if some subsystems are uncontrollable. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated through two simulation examples.