Decentralized adaptive synchronization with bounded identification errors for discrete-time nonlinear multi-agent systems with unknown parameters and unknown high-frequency gains

This paper addresses the challenging problem of decentralized adaptive control for a class of coupled hidden leader-follower multi-agent systems, in which each agent is described by a nonlinearly parameterized uncertain model in discrete time and can interact with its neighbors via the history information from its neighbors. One of the agents is a leader, who knows the desired reference trajectory, while other agents cannot receive the desired reference signal or are unaware of existence of the leader. In order to tackle unknown internal parameters and unknown high-frequency gains, a projection-type parameter estimation algorithm is proposed. Based on the certainty equivalence principle and neighborhood history information, the decentralized adaptive control is designed, under which, the boundedness of identification error is guaranteed with the help of the Lyapunov theory. Under some conditions, it is shown that the multi-agent system eventually achieves synchronization in the presence of strong couplings. Finally, a simulation example is given to support the results of the proposed scheme.     

Online adaptive policy iteration based fault-tolerant control algorithm for continuous-time nonlinear tracking systems with actuator failures

In this paper, a novel tracking control scheme for continuous-time nonlinear affine systems with actuator faults is proposed by using a policy iteration (PI) based adaptive control algorithm. According to the controlled system and desired reference trajectory, a novel augmented tracking system is constructed and the tracking control problem is converted to the stabilizing issue of the corresponding error dynamic system. PI algorithm, generally used in optimal control and intelligence technique fields, is an important reinforcement learning method to solve the performance function by critic neural network (NN) approximation, which satisfies the Lyapunov equation. For the augmented tracking error system with actuator faults, an online PI based fault-tolerant control law is proposed, where a new tuning law of the adaptive parameter is designed to tolerate four common kinds of actuator faults. The stability of the tracking error dynamic with actuator faults is guaranteed by using Lyapunov theory, and the tracking errors satisfy uniformly bounded as the adaptive parameters get converged. Finally, the designed fault-tolerant feedback control algorithm for nonlinear tracking system with actuator faults is applied in two cases to track the desired reference trajectory, and the simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed method.     

Output containment control of heterogeneous multi-agent systems with leaders of bounded inputs: An adaptive finite-time observer approach

In this paper, we address the problem of output containment control of general linear multi-agent systems (MASs). The MAS under consideration is comprised by multiple followers and multiple leaders, all with heterogeneous dynamics. In particular, the leaders’ dynamics are subject to heterogeneous non-zero (possibly persistent) but bounded inputs, which are not measurable for any follower agent, making the associated distributed control design problem rather challenging. A new distributed observer-based containment control protocol is proposed to overcome associated challenges. It consists of two hierarchical layers including (i) the first layer of adaptive finite-time cooperative observer responsible for estimating the convex-hull signals formed by multiple leaders’ states through inter-agent collaboration; and (ii) the second layer of distributed state-feedback controller responsible for local tracking control through a modified output regulation technique. Important novelties of the proposed protocol are that (i) it deals with MASs with not only heterogeneous followers but also heterogeneous leaders; (ii) exact output containment control performance can be achieved in the presence of unmeasurable leaders’ inputs and unknown connectivity of communication network; and (iii) associated solvability conditions are formulated as linear matrix inequalities plus linear algebraic equations, which can be tested and solved effectively via efficient semi-definite programming. The developed theoretical results are demonstrated both rigorously using Lyapunov methods and through numerical simulations.     

Stability analysis of linear continuous-time delay-difference systems with multiple time-delays

This paper is concerned with the stability analysis of linear continuous-time delay-difference systems with multiple delays. Firstly, a new method for testing the L₂-exponential stability of the considered system is proposed, which is easier to use than the one in the existing literature. In view of the conservatism and the complexity of the obtained stability conditions in the existing literature, a complete Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional (LKF) is constructed by analyzing the relationship among the multiple delays. Sufficient conditions for both L₂-exponential stability and exponential stability are then derived based on the constructed LKFs, which are delay-independent. Exponential convergence rate for the considered system is also investigated by a new method, which is shown to be equivalent to the existing approach by using weighted LKFs. Robust stability under parameter uncertainties is also investigated. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and less conservativeness of the proposed method.     

Adaptive fault-tolerant control for continuous-time Markovian jump systems with signal quantization

This paper investigates the adaptive fault-tolerant control problem for a class of continuous-time Markovian jump systems with digital communication constraints, parameter uncertainty, disturbance and actuator faults. In this study, the exact information for actuator fault, disturbance and the unparametrisable time-varying stuck fault are totally unknown. The dynamical uniform quantizer is utilized to perform the design work and the mismatched initializations at the coder and decoder sides are also considered. In this paper, a novel quantized adaptive fault-tolerant control design method is proposed to eliminate the effects of actuator fault, parameter uncertainty and disturbance. Moreover, it can be proved that the solutions of the overall closed-loop system are uniformly bounded, which is asymptotically stable almost surely. Finally, numerical examples are provided to verify the effectiveness of the new methodology.     

An adaptive online learning algorithm for distributed convex optimization with coupled constraints over unbalanced directed graphs

This paper investigates a distributed optimization problem over multi-agent networks subject to both local and coupled constraints in a non-stationary environment, where a set of agents aim to cooperatively minimize the sum of locally time-varying cost functions when the communication graphs are time-changing connected and unbalanced. Based on dual decomposition, we propose a distributed online dual push-sum learning algorithm by incorporating the push-sum protocol into dual gradient method. We then show that the regret bound has a sublinear growth of O(T^p) and the constraint violation is also sublinear with order of $O\left(T^{1?p/2}\right),$ where T is the time horizon and 0 < p ≤ 1/2. Finally, simulation experiments on a plug-in electric vehicle charging problem are utilized to verify the performance of the proposed algorithm. The proposed algorithm is adaptive without knowing the total number of iterations T in advance. The convergence results are established on more general unbalanced graphs without the boundedness assumption on dual variables. In addition, more privacy concerns are guaranteed since only dual variables related with coupled constraints are exchanged among agents.     

Flatness-based adaptive sliding mode tracking control for a quadrotor with disturbances

In this paper, a flatness-based adaptive sliding mode control strategy is presented to solve the trajectory tracking problem of a quadrotor. According to the differential flatness theory, the typical under-actuated quadrotor dynamics is transformed into a fully-actuated one. Based on this model, backstepping sliding mode controllers are designed to solve the trajectory tracking problem. To improve the robustness to disturbances, extended state observers are applied as a feedforward compensation of disturbances. Moreover, considering the high-order dynamics and possible instability caused by large observer gains, the adaptive method is applied to compensate for the estimation error. The effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is verified in simulations.     

Time-varying formation tracking for high-order multi-agent systems with switching topologies and a leader of bounded unknown input

Time-varying formation tracking problems for high-order multi-agent systems with switching topologies are investigated. Different from the previous work, the states of the followers form a predefined time-varying formation while tracking the state of the leader with bounded unknown control input. Besides, the communication topology can be switching, and the dynamics of each agent can have nonlinearities. Firstly, a nonlinear time-varying formation tracking control protocol is presented which is constructed using only local neighboring information. Secondly, an algorithm with four steps is proposed to design the time-varying formation tracking protocol, where the time-varying formation tracking feasibility condition is introduced. Thirdly, by using the Lyapunov theory, the stability of the proposed algorithm is proven. It is proved that the high-order multi-agent system with switching topologies achieves the time-varying formation tracking if the feasibility condition holds and the dwell time is larger than a positive constant. Finally, a numerical example with six followers and one leader is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the obtained results.     

Network-based PI control for output tracking of continuous-time systems with time-varying sampling and network-induced delays

For a continuous-time linear system with constant reference input, the network-based proportional-integral (PI) control is developed to solve the output tracking control problem by taking time-varying sampling and network-induced delays into account. A traditional PI control system is introduced to obtain the equilibriums of state and control input. Using the equilibriums, a discrete-time PI tracking controller in a network environment is constructed. The resulting network-based PI control system is described by an augmented system with two input delays and the output tracking objective is transformed into ensuring asymptotic stability of the augmented system. A delay-dependent stability condition is established by a discontinuous augmented Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional approach. The PI controller design result of in-wheel motor as a case study is provided in terms of linear matrix inequalities. Matlab simulation and experimental results resorting to a test-bed for ZigBee-based control of in-wheel motor are given to validate the proposed method.     

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.     

Sampled-data control for continuous-time Markovian jump linear systems via a fragmented-delay state and its state-space model

This paper considers a stability analysis problem for continuous-time Markovian jump linear systems under aperiodic samplings which are represented as Markovian jump linear systems with input delay. For the systems, this paper constructs a Lyapunov functional by utilizing a fragmented-delay state, which is defined between the last sampling instant and the present time, and a new state space model of the fragmented state. Based on the Lyapunov functional, a stability criterion is derived in terms of linear matrix inequalities by using reciprocally convex approach and integral inequality. Here, the reciprocally convex approach and integral inequality are associated not only with the current state, the delayed state, and the maximum-admissible delay state, but also with the fragmented-delay state. The simulation result shows the effectiveness of the proposed stability criterion.     

TS fuzzy robust L1 control for nonlinear systems with persistent bounded disturbances

In this paper, a novel technique for Takagi–Sugeno (TS) model-based robust L₁ controller design of nonlinear systems is proposed. Two synthesis methods based on quadratic and non-quadratic Lyapunov functions are considered. To design the robust stabilizing controller, a new approach for deriving sufficient conditions associated with the L₁ performance criterion in terms of strict linear matrix inequality is proposed. This novel technique results in less pre-chosen scalar design variables and calculation burden. Furthermore, deriving the controller synthesis conditions via a non-quadratic Lyapunov function (NQLF) relaxes the obtained conditions. Therefore, the proposed approaches not only efficiently minimize the effect of persistent bounded disturbance, but also are applicable for wider classes of TS systems. Furthermore, some new lemmas are proposed to facilitate strict LMI formulation and to provide more degrees of freedom. Finally, several numerical and practical examples are presented to show the merits of this paper.     

Anti-disturbance control based on disturbance observer for nonlinear systems with bounded disturbances

A composite anti-disturbance control problem for a class of nonlinear systems is studied in this paper. There are two types of disturbances in the systems, one is the matched disturbance with bounded variation rate, the other is the unmatched time-varying disturbances. A nonlinear disturbance observer is designed to estimate the matched disturbances, which can be presented separately from the controller design. By integrating DOBC with back-stepping method, a composite DOBC and back-stepping controller is proposed, and the disturbance estimations are introduced into the design of virtual control laws to compensate the unmatched disturbances. In addition, it is proved that all the states in the closed-loop system are uniformly ultimate bounded (UUB). Finally, a numerical example is given to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Super-twisting observer-based sliding mode control with fuzzy variable gains and its applications to fully-actuated hexarotors

In this paper, we consider the super-twisting observer-based sliding mode control algorithm with fuzzy variable gains (STOSMC) for the fully-actuated hexarotor. Our hexarotor has full actuation due to six titled propellers that allows to control position and orientation (attitude) simultaneously, and resolves the singularity problem of the rotational matrix by using the quaternion modeling framework. We show that the proposed STOSMC for the hexarotor guarantees finite-time convergence of the estimation error and asymptotic stability of the hexarotor. In simulations, we demonstrate the nonsingularity and fully-actuated control performance of the hexarotor by considering extreme position and attitude control scenarios. Moreover, the simulation results show that the hexarotor achieves the fast and precise tracking performance to the desired position and the desired attitude and the chattering phenomenon is reduced compared with the fixed-gains observer-based super-twisting sliding mode control due to the fuzzy mechanism.     

Stabilization of a class of nonlinear parametrized systems by a flexible switching adaptive backstepping

In this paper, we consider global adaptive feedback control of nonlinear systems with unknown parameters entering nonlinearly. Such unknown parameters are also not required to lie in a known compact set. Unlike previous results, our proposed adaptive controller is a new double dynamical switching-type controller in which the controller parameter is tuned in a flexible switching manner via a monotonically decreasing switching logic and the controller combines the traditional adaptive theorem with the switching scheme perfectly. Global stability results of the closed-loop system have been proved.     

Neural networks-based adaptive output feedback control for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with input delay and disturbances

This paper focuses on the problem of adaptive output feedback control for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with input delay and disturbances. Radial basis function neural networks (NNs) are employed to approximate the unknown functions and an NN observer is constructed to estimate the unmeasurable system states. Moreover, an auxiliary system is introduced to compensate for the effect of input delay. With the aid of the backstepping technique and Lyapunov stability theorem, an adaptive NN output feedback controller is designed which can guarantee the boundedness of all the signals in the closed-loop systems. Finally, a simulation example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Extended-state-observer-based output feedback adaptive control of hydraulic system with continuous friction compensation

This paper presents an extended state observer-based output feedback adaptive controller with a continuous LuGre friction compensation for a hydraulic servo control system. A continuous approximation of the LuGre friction model is employed, which preserves the main physical characteristics of the original model without increasing the complexity of the system stability analysis. By this way, continuous friction compensation is used to eliminate the majority of nonlinear dynamics in hydraulic servo system. Besides, with the development of a new parameter adaption law, the problems of parametric uncertainties are overcome so that more accurate friction compensation is realized. For another, the developed adaption law is driven by tracking errors and observation errors simultaneously. Thus, the burden of extended state observer to solve the remaining uncertainties is alleviated greatly and high gain feedback is avoided, which means better tracking performance and robustness are achieved. The designed controller handles not only matched uncertainties but also unmatched dynamics with requiring little system information, more importantly, it is based on output feedback method, in other words, the synthesized controller only relies on input signal and position output signal of the system, which greatly reduces the effects caused by signal pollution, measurement noise and other unexpected dynamics. Lyapunov-based analysis has proved this strategy presents a prescribed tracking transient performance and final tracking accuracy while obtaining asymptotic tracking performance in the presence of parametric uncertainties only. Finally, comparative experiments are conducted on a hydraulic servo platform to verify the high tracking performance of the proposed control strategy.     

Finite-time adaptive control for a class of switched stochastic uncertain nonlinear systems

This paper addresses the problem of global finite-time adaptive control for a class of switched stochastic uncertain nonlinear systems under arbitrary switchings. By applying the delicate introduction of coordinate transformations and adding a power integrator technique, an adaptive controller is constructed to guarantee that the system state is regulated to the origin almost surely in a finite time while maintaining the boundedness of the resulting closed-loop systems in probability. Two examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.     

Data-driven adaptive optimal control of linear uncertain systems with unknown jumping dynamics

This paper focuses on the optimal control of a DC torque motor servo system which represents a class of continuous-time linear uncertain systems with unknown jumping internal dynamics. A data-driven adaptive optimal control strategy based on the integration of adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) and switching control is presented to minimize a predefined cost function. This takes the first step to develop switching ADP methods and extend the application of ADP to time-varying systems. Moreover, an analytical method to give the initial stabilizing controller for policy iteration ADP is proposed. It is shown that under the proposed adaptive optimal control law, the closed-loop switched system is asymptotically stable at the origin. The effectiveness of the strategy is validated via simulations on the DC motor system model.     

Observer-based adaptive fuzzy control of a class of MIMO non-strict feedback nonlinear systems

This paper investigates the adaptive fuzzy control design problem of multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) non-strict feedback nonlinear systems. The considered control systems contain unknown control directions and dead zones. Fuzzy logic systems (FLSs) are utilized to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions, and the state observers are designed to estimate immeasurable states. By constructing a dead zone compensator and introducing a Nussbaum gain function into the backstepping technique, an adaptive fuzzy output feedback control method is developed. The proposed adaptive fuzzy controller is proved to guarantee the semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded (SGUUB) of the closed-loop system, and can solve the control design problems of unmeasured states, unknown control directions and dead zones. The simulation results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control method.