Global practical tracking for nonlinear systems with uncertain dead-zone input via output feedback

In this paper, global practical tracking is investigated via output feedback for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems subject to unknown dead-zone input. The nonlinear systems under consideration allow more general growth restriction, where the growth rate includes unknown constant and output polynomial function. Without the precise priori knowledge of dead-zone characteristic, an input-driven observer is designed by introducing a novel dynamic gain. Based on non-separation principle, a universal adaptive output feedback controller is proposed by combining dynamic high-gain scaling approach with backstepping method. The controller proposed guarantees that the closed-loop output can track any smooth and bounded reference signal by any small pre-given tracking error, while all closed-loop signals are globally bounded. Finally, simulation examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of our dynamic output feedback control scheme.     

Finite-time trajectory tracking control for a stratospheric airship with full-state constraint and disturbances

This paper investigates the finite-time trajectory tracking problem of a stratospheric airship subject to full-state constraint, input saturation, and disturbance. First, a disturbance observer is designed such that the estimation of disturbances can be accomplished within fixed time. Second, a Lyapunov barrier function-based finite-time controller is constructed to address the time-varying constraints of tracking errors, while a smooth filter is used to restrict the virtual signals and to generate their derivatives. Furthermore, novel auxiliary systems are proposed to compensate the possible saturation effect and to maintain the finite-time property. Comparative simulations are carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed controller.     

Robust adaptive visual tracking control for uncertain robotic systems with unknown dead-zone inputs

This paper is concerned with the image-based visual servoing (IBVS) control for uncalibrated camera-robot system with unknown dead-zone constraint, where the uncertain kinematics and dynamics are also considered. The control implementation is achieved by constructing a smooth inverse model for dead-zone-input to eliminate the nonlinear effect resulting from the actuator constraint. A novel adaptive algorithm, which does not require a priori knowledge of the parameter intervals of dead-zone model, is proposed to update the parameter values online, and the dead-zone slopes are not required the same. Furthermore, to accommodate the uncertainties of uncalibrated camera-robot system, adaptation laws are developed to estimate the uncertain parameters, simultaneously avoiding singularity of the image Jacobian matrix. With the full consideration of unknown dead-zone constraint and system uncertainties, an adaptive robust visual tracking control scheme together with dead-zone compensation is subsequently established such that the image tracking error converges to the origin. Based on a 3-DOF manipulator, simulations are conducted to verify the tracking performance of the proposed controller.     

Predictor-based optimal robust guaranteed cost control for uncertain nonlinear systems with completely tracking errors constraint

In this paper, a novel composite controller is proposed to achieve the prescribed performance of completely tracking errors for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems. The proposed controller contains a feedforward controller and a feedback controller. The feedforward controller is constructed by incorporating the prescribed performance function (PPF) and a state predictor into the neural dynamic surface approach to guarantee the transient and steady-state responses of completely tracking errors within prescribed boundaries. Different from the traditional adaptive laws which are commonly updated by the system tracking error, the state predictor uses the prediction error to update the neural network (NN) weights such that a smooth and fast approximation for the unknown nonlinearity can be obtained without incurring high-frequency oscillations. Since the uncertainties existing in the system may influence the prescribed performance of tracking error and the estimation accuracy of NN, an optimal robust guaranteed cost control (ORGCC) is designed as the feedback controller to make the closed-loop system robustly stable and further guarantee that the system cost function is not more than a specified upper bound. The stabilities of the whole closed-loop control system is certified by the Lyapunov theory. Simulation and experimental results based on a servomechanism are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Inverse-Dynamics- and disturbance-Observer-Based tube model predictive tracking control of uncertain robotic manipulator

A novel robust hierarchical multi-loop composite control scheme is proposed for the trajectory tracking control of robotic manipulators subject to constraints and disturbances. The inner loop based on inverse dynamics control is used to reduce the nonlinear tracking error system to a set of decoupled linear subsystems to alleviate the computational effort during the sequel optimization. The feasible regions of the equivalent state and control input of each subsystem can be computed efficiently by choosing an appropriate inertia matrix estimate. The external loop, relying on a set of separate disturbance-observer-based tube model predictive composite controllers, is used to robustly stabilize the decoupled subsystems. In particular, the disturbance observers are designed to compensate for the disturbances actively, while the tube model predictive controllers are used to reject the residual disturbances. The robust tightened constraints are obtained by calculating the outer-bounding-tube-type residual disturbance invariant sets of the closed-loop subsystems. Furthermore, the recursive feasibility and input-to-state stability of the closed-loop system are investigated. The effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is verified by the simulation experiment on a PUMA 560 robotic manipulator.     

Adaptive sliding mode trajectory tracking control of robotic airships with parametric uncertainty and wind disturbance

An adaptive sliding mode trajectory tracking controller is developed for fully-actuated robotic airships with parametric uncertainties and unknown wind disturbances. Based on the trajectory tracking model of robotic airships, an adaptive sliding mode control strategy is proposed to ensure the asymptotic convergence of trajectory tracking errors and adaptive estimations. The crucial thinking involves an adaptive scheme for the controller gains to avoid the off-line tuning. Specially, the uncertain physical parameters and unknown wind disturbances are rejected by variable structure control, and boundary layer technique is employed to avoid the undesired control chattering phenomenon. Computer experiments are performed to demonstrate the performance and advantage of the proposed control method.     

Barrier Lyapunov function-based adaptive fuzzy attitude tracking control for rigid satellite with input delay and output constraint

This paper investigates the adaptive attitude tracking problem for the rigid satellite involving output constraint, input saturation, input time delay, and external disturbance by integrating barrier Lyapunov function (BLF) and prescribed performance control (PPC). In contrast to the existing approaches, the input delay is addressed by Pade approximation, and the actual control input concerning saturation is obtained by utilizing an auxiliary variable that simplifies the controller design with respect to mean value methods or Nussbaum function-based strategies. Due to the implementation of the BLF control, together with an interval notion-based PPC strategy, not only the system output but also the transformed error produced by PPC are constrained. An adaptive fuzzy controller is then constructed and the predesigned constraints for system output and the transformed error will not be violated. In addition, a smooth switch term is imported into the controller such that the finite time convergence for all error variables is guaranteed for a certain case while the singularity problem is avoided. Finally, simulations are provided to show the effectiveness and potential of the proposed new design techniques.     

Nonlinear trajectory tracking controller for a class of robotic vehicles

A global state feedback tracking controller for a class of vehicles, namely marine vehicles, hovercrafts and indoor airships is considered in this paper. The control algorithm uses a velocity transformation of the vehicle equations of motion. It is shown that this algorithm is suitable for control of fully actuated systems and leads to fast response. This property arises from the fact that the dynamical couplings in the vehicle are taken into account in the control gain matrix. A Lyapunov-like function is proposed for the stability analysis of the system under the controller. The algorithms robustness issue is considered too. Numerical simulations are given to illustrate effectiveness of the approach.     

Discrete-time output feedback quasi-sliding mode control for robust tracking and model following of uncertain systems

A discrete-time output feedback quasi-sliding mode control scheme is proposed to realize the problem of robust tracking and model following for a class of uncertain linear systems in which states are unavailable and estimated states are not required. The proposed scheme guarantees the stability of the closed-loop system and achieves a very small ultimate boundedness of the tracking error in the presence of matched uncertain parameters and external slow disturbances. This scheme ensures the robustness to matched parametric uncertainties and disturbances. Since the proposed controller is designed without any switching element, the chattering phenomenon is eliminated. Furthermore, the knowledge of upper bound of uncertainties is not required. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.     

Global exact tracking for uncertain MIMO linear systems by output feedback sliding mode control

This paper presents a solution to the problem of global exact output tracking for uncertain MIMO (multiple-input–multiple-output) linear plants with non-uniform arbitrary relative degree using output feedback sliding mode control. The key idea to overcome the relative degree obstacle is to generalize our previous hybrid estimation scheme to a multivariable version by combining, through switching, a standard linear lead filter with a non-linear one based on robust exact differentiators, achieving uniform global exponential practical stability and exact tracking.     

Probabilistic constraint tightening techniques for trajectory planning with predictive control

In order for automated mobile vehicles to navigate in the real world with minimal collision risks, it is necessary for their planning algorithms to consider uncertainties from measurements and environmental disturbances. In this paper, we consider analytical solutions for a conservative approximation of the mutual probability of collision between two robotic vehicles in the presence of such uncertainties. Therein, we present two methods, which we call unitary scaling and principal axes rotation, for decoupling the bivariate integral required for efficient approximation of the probability of collision between two vehicles including orientation effects. We compare the conservatism of these methods analytically and numerically. By closing a control loop through a model predictive guidance scheme, we observe through Monte-Carlo simulations that directly implementing collision avoidance constraints from the conservative approximations remains infeasible for real-time planning. We then propose and implement a convexification approach based on the tightened collision constraints that significantly improves the computational efficiency and robustness of the predictive guidance scheme.     

Fault-tolerant tracking control based on reinforcement learning with application to a steer-by-wire system

In this paper, a novel complete model-free integral reinforcement learning (CMFIRL) algorithm based fault tolerant control scheme is proposed to solve the tracking problem of steer-by-wire (SBW) system. We begin with the recognition that the reference errors can eventually converge to zero based on the command generator model. Then an augmented tracking system is constructed with a corresponding performance index which is considered as a type of actuator failure. By using the reinforcement learning (RL) technique, three novel online update strategies are respectively developed to cope with the following three cases, i.e., model-based, partially model-free, and completely model-free. Especially, the RL algorithm for the complete model-free case eliminates the constraints of requiring the known system dynamics in fault-tolerant tracking controlling. The system stability and the convergence of the CMFIRL iteration algorithm are also rigorously proved. Finally, a simulation example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Adaptive fuzzy output feedback fault-tolerant tracking control of switched uncertain nonlinear systems with sensor faults

This paper investigates the adaptive fuzzy output feedback fault-tolerant tracking control problem for a class of switched uncertain nonlinear systems with unknown sensor faults. In this paper, since the sensor may suffer from an unknown constant loss scaling failure, only actual output can be used for feedback design. A failure factor is employed to represent the loss of effectiveness faults. Then, an adaptive estimation coefficient is introduced to estimate the failure factor, and a state observer based on the actual output is constructed to estimate the system states. Fuzzy logic systems are used to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions. Based on the Lyapunov function method and the backstepping technique, the proposed control scheme with average dwell time constraints can guarantee that all states of the closed-loop system are bounded and the tracking error can converge to a small neighborhood of zero. Finally, two simulation examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.     

Flatness-based adaptive fuzzy output tracking excitation control for power system generators

In this paper, a novel approach for the design of an indirect adaptive fuzzy output tracking excitation control of power system generators is proposed. The method is developed based on the concept of differentially flat systems through which the nonlinear system can be written in canonical form. The flatness-based adaptive fuzzy control methodology is used to design the excitation control signal of a single machine power system in order to track a reference trajectory for the generator angle. The considered power system can be written in the canonical form and the resulting excitation control signal is shown to be nonlinear. In case of unknown power system parameters due to abnormalities, the nonlinear functions appearing in the control signal are approximated using adaptive fuzzy systems. Simulation results show that the proposed controller can enhance the transient stability of the power system under a three-phase to ground fault occurring near the generator terminals.     

Real-time output trajectory tracking neural sliding mode controller for induction motors

This paper deals with real-time discrete adaptive output trajectory tracking for induction motors in the presence of bounded disturbances. A recurrent high order neural network structure is used to design a nonlinear observer and based on this model, a discrete-time control law is derived, which combines discrete-time block control and sliding modes techniques. Applicability of the scheme is illustrated via experimental results in real-time for a three phase induction motor.     

Tube-based output feedback model predictive control of polytopic uncertain system with bounded disturbances

This paper addresses the output feedback model predictive control (OFMPC) of the constrained polytopic uncertain system in the presence of bounded state and output disturbances. The controller is designed in such a way that the unmeasurable state of the real system is bounded by the tube whose center is the estimated state of the disturbance-free (reference) model. The infinite-horizon reference control sequence is parameterized as a free control move followed by an output feedback law based on the reference state observer. By applying the OFMPC approach, the reference model is asymptotically stable so that robust stability of the real disturbed system is guaranteed. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.     

Adaptive control of output feedback nonlinear systems with unmodeled dynamics and output constraint

This paper is concerned with the adaptive control problem of a class of output feedback nonlinear systems with unmodeled dynamics and output constraint. Two dynamic surface control design approaches based on integral barrier Lyapunov function are proposed to design controller ensuring both desired tracking performance and constraint satisfaction. The radial basis function neural networks are utilized to approximate unknown nonlinear continuous functions. K-filters and dynamic signal are introduced to estimate the unmeasured states and deal with the dynamic uncertainties, respectively. By theoretical analysis, the closed-loop control system is proved to be semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded, while the output constraint is never violated. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.     

Fault-tolerant control for the linearized spacecraft attitude control system with Markovian switching

In this article, the fault-tolerant control is investigated for the spacecraft attitude control system described by a linearized model with Markovian switching. First, the evolution of sudden failures of the spacecraft’s actuators is described by a Markov process. Then, the mathematical model of the spacecraft attitude control system with the Markov jump characteristic fault is established. Taking the uncertainty of the system model and external interference into consideration, a fault-tolerant control scheme is proposed for the established spacecraft attitude control system with the Markov jump characteristic fault by using the sliding mode control technique. Compared with some existing sliding mode controller design methods, the proposed method requires a less total number of LMIs to be solved. The stability and reachability of the resulting closed-loop system under the presented sliding mode control scheme are proven by applying the Lyapunov stability theory. Finally, some simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness and advantages of the proposed control method for spacecraft attitude control.     

Adaptive output feedback control of large-scale nonlinear time-delay systems with uncertain output equations

For a class of large-scale nonlinear time-delay systems with uncertain output equations, the problem of global state asymptotic regulation is addressed by output feedback. The class of systems under consideration are subject to feedforward growth conditions with unknown growth rate and time delays in inputs and outputs. To deal with the system uncertainties and the unknown delays, a novel low-gain observer with adaptive gain is firstly proposed; next, an adaptive output feedback delay-free controller is constructed by combining Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional with backstepping algorithm. Compared with the existing results, the controllers proposed are capable of handling both the uncertain output functions and the unknown time delays in inputs and outputs. With the help of dynamic scaling technique, it is shown that the closed-loop states converge asymptotically to zero, while the adaptive gain is bounded globally. Finally, the effectiveness of our control schemes are illustrated by three examples.