A nonlinear optimal control approach for autonomous motorcycles

In this article, the control problem for omnidirectional 3-wheel autonomous mobile robots is solved with the use of (i) a nonlinear optimal control method (ii) a flatness-based control approach which is implemented in successive loops. To apply method (i) that is nonlinear optimal control, the dynamic model of the omnidirectional 3-wheel autonomous mobile robots undergoes approximate linearization at each sampling instant with the use of first-order Taylor series expansion and through the computation of the associated Jacobian matrix. The linearization point is defined by the present value of the system's state vector and by the last sampled value of the control inputs vector. To compute the feedback gains of the optimal controller an algebraic Riccati equation is repetitively solved at each time-step of the control algorithm. The global stability properties of the nonlinear optimal control method are proven through Lyapunov analysis. To implement control method (ii), that is flatness-based control in successive loops, the state-space model of the omnidirectional 3-wheel autonomous mobile robot is separated into chained subsystems, which are connected in cascading loops. Each one of these subsystems can be viewed independently as a differentially flat system and control about it can be performed with inversion of its dynamics as in the case of input-output linearized flat systems. The state variables of the preceding (i-th) subsystem become virtual control inputs for the subsequent (i+1-th) subsystem. In turn, exogenous control inputs are applied to the last subsystem. The whole control method is implemented in successive loops and its global stability properties are also proven through Lyapunov stability analysis. The proposed method achieves trajectory tracking and autonomous navigation for the omnidirectional 3-wheel autonomous mobile robots without the need of diffeomorphisms and complicated state-space model transformations.

Nonlinear optimal and multi-loop flatness-based control of induction motor-driven desalination units

Nonlinear optimal control for triangular tethered multi-satellite formations

Transportation of heavy loads is often performed by multi-axle multi-steered heavy duty vehicles In this article a novel nonlinear optimal control method is applied to the kinematic model of the five-axle and three-steering coupled vehicle system. First, it is proven that the dynamic model of this articulated multi-vehicle system is differentially flat. Next. the state-space model of the five-axle and three-steering vehicle system undergoes approximate linearization around a temporary operating point that is recomputed at each time-step of the control method. The linearization is based on Taylor series expansion and on the associated Jacobian matrices. For the linearized state-space model of the five-axle and three-steering vehicle system a stabilizing optimal (H-infinity) feedback controller is designed. This controller stands for the solution of the nonlinear optimal control problem under model uncertainty and external perturbations. To compute the controller’s feedback gains an algebraic Riccati equation is repetitively solved at each iteration of the control algorithm. The stability properties of the control method are proven through Lyapunov analysis. The proposed nonlinear optimal control approach achieves fast and accurate tracking of setpoints under moderate variations of the control inputs and minimal dispersion of energy by the propulsion and steering system of the five-axle and three-steering vehicle system.

This paper proposes a nonlinear optimal control approach for mulitple degrees of freedom (DOF) brachiation robots, which are often used in inspection and maintenance tasks of the electric power grid. Because of the nonlinear and multivariable structure of the related state-space model, as well as because of underactuation, the control problem of these robots is nontrivial. The dynamic model of the brachiation robots undergoes first approximate linearization with the use of Taylor series expansion around a temporary operating point which is recomputed at each iteration of the control method. For the approximately linearized model, an H-infinity feedback controller is designed. The linearization procedure relies on the Jacobian matrices of the brachiation robots’ state-space model. The proposed control method stands for the solution of the optimal control problem for the nonlinear and multivariable dynamics of the brachiation robots, under model uncertainties and external perturbations. For the computation of the controller’s feedback gains an algebraic Riccati equation is solved at each time-step of the control method. The global stability properties of the control scheme are proven through Lyapunov analysis. The new nonlinear optimal control approach achieves fast and accurate tracking for all state variables of the brachiation robots, under moderate variations of the control inputs.

A new nonlinear optimal control method is proposed for solving the problem of control and stabilization of a two-link robotic manipulator where the first link is rigid and the second link is flexible. The dynamic model of this robot describes both the rotational motion of the two links and the vibration modes which are excited at the flexible link. The control and stabilization problem of this 2-DOF rigid-flexible robot is nontrivial due to complex nonlinear dynamics and underactuation. To apply the proposed nonlinear optimal control method, the dynamic model of the two-link rigid-flexible robotic manipulator undergoes first approximate linearization around a temporary operating point that is updated at each iteration of the control algorithm. The linearization takes place through first-order Taylor series expansion and through the computation of the Jacobian matrices of the flexible manipulator’s state-space description. For the approximately linearized model of the two-link rigid-flexible robot, an H-infinity feedback controller is designed. Actually, the H-infinity controller stands for the solution of the optimal control problem for the rigid-flexible robot under uncertainty and external perturbations. For the computation of the feedback gains of the H-infinity controller, an algebraic Riccati equation is solved at each time-step of the control method. The stability properties of the control algorithm are proven through Lyapunov analysis. First, it is shown that the control scheme achieves H-infinity tracking performance which signifies robustness for the control loop of the two-link rigid-flexible robot under uncertainties and external perturbations. Next, it is also shown that the control loop of the 2-DOF rigid-flexible robot is globally asymptotically stable. The proposed control method achieves fast and accurate tracking of setpoints under moderate variations of the control inputs. The concept of the proposed nonlinear optimal control method has been to approximate locally and at each sampling interval the nonlinear dynamics of the rigid-flexible robotic manipulator by an equivalent linear state-space description and to solve the H-infinity control problem for the linearized model. Finally, the control inputs are applied to the initial nonlinear dynamics and stability proof is given for the initial nonlinear state-space model.

A nonlinear optimal control method is developed for autonomous truck and trailer systems. Actually, two cases are distinguished: (a) a truck and trailer system that is steered by the front wheels of its truck, (b) an autonomous fire-truck robot that is steered by both the front wheels of its truck and by the rear wheels of its trailer. The kinematic model of the autonomous vehicles undergoes linearization through Taylor series expansion. The linearization is computed at a temporary operating point that is defined at each time instant by the present value of the state vector and the last value of the control inputs vector. The linearization is based on the computation of Jacobian matrices. The modeling error due to approximate linearization is considered to be a perturbation that is compensated by the robustness of the control scheme. For the approximately linearized model of the autonomous vehicles an H-infinity feedback controller is designed. This requires the solution of an algebraic Riccati equation at each iteration of the control algorithm. The stability of the control loop is confirmed through Lyapunov analysis. It is shown that the control loop exhibits the H-infinity tracking performance which implies elevated robustness against modeling errors and external disturbances. Moreover, under moderate conditions the global asymptotic stability of the control loop is proven. Finally, to implement state estimation-based control for the autonomous vehicles, through the processing of a small number of sensor measurements, the H-infinity Kalman Filter is proposed.

Nonlinear optimal control of the acute inflammatory response

Nonlinear optimal control for a gas compressor driven by an induction motor

Due to connection of distributed marine power generation units to the same transmission lines, interactions between the excitations of the individual generators appear. To achieve stabilization of the generators' functioning, as well as synchronization to the grid's frequency the generators' control has to compensate for such interactions. The article proposes a nonlinear optimal control approach for distributed marine-turbine power units that use synchronous generators. First, the dynamic model of the distributed power system undergoes approximate linearization around a temporary operating point which is re-computed at each time-step of the control algorithm. The linearization relies on first-order Taylor series expansion and on the computation of the associated Jacobian matrices. For the approximately linearized model of the distributed power system a stabilizing H-infinity (optimal) feedback controller is designed. To compute the controller's feedback gains an algebraic Riccati equation is repetitively solved at each time-step of the control method. The global stability properties of the control scheme are proven through Lyapunov analysis.

Tower cranes find wide use in construction works, in ports and in several loading and unloading procedures met in industry. A nonlinear optimal control approach is proposed for the dynamic model of the 4-DOF underactuated tower crane. The dynamic model of the robotic crane undergoes approximate linearization around a temporary operating point that is recomputed at each time-step of the control method. The linearization relies on Taylor series expansion and on the associated Jacobian matrices. For the linearized state-space model of the system a stabilizing optimal (H-infinity) feedback controller is designed. To compute the controller’s feedback gains an algebraic Riccati equation is repetitively solved at each iteration of the control algorithm. The stability properties of the control method are proven through Lyapunov analysis. The proposed control approach is advantageous because: (i) unlike the popular computed torque method for robotic manipulators, the new control approach is characterized by optimality and is also applicable when the number of control inputs is not equal to the robot’s number of DOFs, (ii) it achieves fast and accurate tracking of reference setpoints under minimal energy consumption by the robot’s actuators, (iii) unlike the popular Nonlinear Model Predictive Control method, the article’s nonlinear optimal control scheme is of proven global stability and convergence to the optimum.

Nonlinear optimal control problems are challenging to solve due to the prevalence of local minima that prevent convergence and/or optimality. This paper describes nearest-neighbors optimal control (NNOC), a data-driven framework for nonlinear optimal control using indirect methods. It determines initial guesses for new problems with the help of precomputed solutions to similar problems, retrieved using k-nearest neighbors. A sensitivity analysis technique is introduced to linearly approximate the variation of solutions between new and precomputed problems based on their variation of parameters. Experiments show that NNOC can obtain the global optimal solution orders of magnitude faster than standard random restart methods, and sensitivity analysis can further reduce the solving time almost by half. Examples are shown on two optimal control problems in vehicle control.

This paper introduces a family of iterative algorithms for unconstrained nonlinear optimal control. We generalize the well-known iLQR algorithm to different multiple shooting variants, combining advantages like straightforward initialization and a closed-loop forward integration. All algorithms have similar computational complexity, i.e. linear complexity in the time horizon, and can be derived in the same computational framework. We compare the full-step variants of our algorithms and present several simulation examples, including a high-dimensional underactuated robot subject to contact switches. Simulation results show that our multiple shooting algorithms can achieve faster convergence, better local contraction rates and much shorter runtimes than classical iLQR, which makes them a superior choice for nonlinear model predictive control applications.

Control and stabilization of parallel robotic manipulators is a non-trivial problem because of nonlinearities and the multi-variable structure. In this article, a nonlinear optimal control approach is proposed for the dynamic model of such robotic systems, using as a case-study the model of a five-link parallel robot. The dynamic model of the parallel robotic manipulator undergoes approximate linearization around a temporary operating point that is recomputed at each time-step of the control method. The linearization relies on Taylor series expansion and on the associated Jacobian matrices. For the linearized state-space model of the system, a stabilizing optimal (H-infinity) feedback controller is designed. This controller stands as a solution to the nonlinear optimal control problem under model uncertainty and external perturbations. To compute the controller’s feedback gains, an algebraic Riccati equation is repetitively solved at each iteration of the control algorithm. The stability properties of the control method are proven through Lyapunov analysis. Finally, to implement state estimation-based control without the need to measure the entire state vector of the parallel robotic manipulator, the H-infinity Kalman filter is used as a robust state estimator. Among the advantages of this control method, one can note that (i) unlike the popular computed-torque method for robotic manipulators, the new control approach is characterized by optimality and is also applicable when the number of control inputs is not equal to the robot’s number of DOFs and (ii) it achieves fast and accurate tracking of reference set points under minimal energy consumption by the robot’s actuators.

A nonlinear optimal control method is developed for magnetostrictive actuators used to actively attenuate plate vibration.Significant improvements in vibration control can be achieved when the magnetostrictive actuators are driven at moderate to high field levels.This results in nonlinearity and hysteresis which cannot be effectively compensated using linear control theory.This issue is addressed by introducing a homogenized energy model that accounts for nonlinear, hysteretic constitutive behavior into the control design.Numerical examples illustrate significant improvements in vibration attenuation when the nonlinear control method is implemented.