Adaptive suboptimal H∞ control for time-varying systems with uncertainty, unknown parameters and disturbance

Cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) is a promising technology for vehicle platoons to increase roadway capacity. This paper proposes a networked Lagrange system (NLS) based CACC dynamic model based on which a hierarchical anti-disturbance controller is developed to solve the stability problem of CACC in vehicle platoons with time-varying parameter uncertainties, external disturbances, and directional dynamic communication topology. First, a hierarchical anti-disturbance controller for NLS is constructed which comprises three layers, these are, the adaptive smooth estimator-control layer, the distributed classifying amplitude-related layer, and the anti-disturbance control layer, in which the parameter uncertainties are estimated in the adaptive smooth estimator-control layer, the disturbance classification and distribute control are executed in the distributed classifying amplitude-related layer and the anti-disturbance control layer respectively. In addition, the proposed controller is extended to address the stability problem of CACC in vehicle platoons with time-varying parameter uncertainties, external disturbances, and directional dynamic communication topology conditions, which shows the versatility of the controller. Finally, comparison studies and simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness, significance, and advantages of the presented controllers.

Design of an intelligent optimal neural network-based tracking controller for nonholonomic mobile robot systems

Trajectory tracking control is indispensable for a wheeled mobile robot to achieve successful navigation. The classical tracking control systems that are used in wheeled mobile robots do not compensate for the parameter uncertainties and external disturbances. For control strategy, this paper presents a novel hybrid approach, combining a neural network-based kinematic controller and a model reference adaptive control. The controller parameters are adaptively determined online using neural networks. The adaptively tuned kinematic controller ensures a fast convergence to the desired trajectory. The model reference adaptive controller retains the desired tracking performance when parameter and model uncertainties occur. The Lyapunov stability method is used to obtain the adaptive gains which guarantee the asymptotic stability of the error dynamics, where the error is the difference between the outputs of the reference model and the actual plant. The performance of the proposed controller is compared with that of the PID controller, kinematic controller, and adaptive dynamic controller using different performance analysis indices such as integral absolute error, integral squared error, and mean absolute error. Simulation studies demonstrate that the proposed controller achieves high tracking accuracy and fast convergence as compared to the PID, kinematic, and adaptive dynamic controllers considering parameter uncertainties and slip disturbances. The outcomes of the simulation studies also illustrate that the proposed controller achieves the best transient performance. Experiments using real-world tests based on a two-wheeled differential drive robot architecture have elucidated the feasibility of the developed controller regarding tracking accuracy, total control effort, and robustness against uncertainties.

This study explores the integration of the adaptive control approach with the Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) method, with a view to examining the impact of this integration on the performance of dynamic systems. Adaptive control is highlighted as a versatile and robust methodology that enables systems to cope with uncertainties and adapt to rapidly changing conditions in their operating environments. As a branch of adaptive control, the MRAC method focuses on efficiently achieving desired performance objectives by adjusting system parameters based on a predefined reference model. The primary focus is on investigating how these methods can be applied to optimize the functionality of systems characterized by dynamic and variable nature, such as unmanned aerial vehicles. By addressing challenges related to uncertainties, disturbances, and adaptability, the integration of adaptive control with the MRAC method demonstrates significant potential in improving the robustness, responsiveness, and reliability of such systems. This research investigates the performance of adaptive techniques in enhancing the capabilities of modern control systems. The objective of the research is to assess the effectiveness of MRAC in terms of reference signal tracking. Simulation results demonstrate the ability of MRAC to maintain accurate tracking of the desired reference for key vehicle dynamics, including roll, pitch and yaw. The results demonstrate the robustness of the MRAC algorithm in attitude control, which may lead to support for sustainability issues such as energy consumption.

Robust and adaptive control of an unknown plant: A benchmark of new format

1. Introduction. Control System Design Steps. Adaptive Control. A Brief History. 2. Models for Dynamic Systems. Introduction. State-Space Models. Input/Output Models. Plant Parametric Models. Problems. 3. Stability. Introduction. Preliminaries. Input/Output Stability. Lyapunov Stability. Positive Real Functions and Stability. Stability of LTI Feedback System. Problems. 4. On-Line Parameter Estimation. Introduction. Simple Examples. Adaptive Laws with Normalization. Adaptive Laws with Projection. Bilinear Parametric Model. Hybrid Adaptive Laws. Summary of Adaptive Laws. Parameter Convergence Proofs. Problems. 5. Parameter Identifiers and Adaptive Observers. Introduction. Parameter Identifiers. Adaptive Observers. Adaptive Observer with Auxiliary Input. Adaptive Observers for Nonminimal Plant Models. Parameter Convergence Proofs. Problems. 6. Model Reference Adaptive Control. Introduction. Simple Direct MRAC Schemes. MRC for SISO Plants. Direct MRAC with Unnormalized Adaptive Laws. Direct MRAC with Normalized Adaptive Laws. Indirect MRAC. Relaxation of Assumptions in MRAC. Stability Proofs in MRAC Schemes. Problems. 7. Adaptive Pole Placement Control. Introduction. Simple APPC Schemes. PPC: Known Plant Parameters. Indirect APPC Schemes. Hybrid APPC Schemes. Stabilizability Issues and Modified APPC. Stability Proofs. Problems. 8. Robust Adaptive Laws. Introduction. Plant Uncertainties and Robust Control. Instability Phenomena in Adaptive Systems. Modifications for Robustness: Simple Examples. Robust Adaptive Laws. Summary of Robust Adaptive Laws. Problems. 9. Robust Adaptive Control Schemes. Introduction. Robust Identifiers and Adaptive Observers. Robust MRAC. Performance Improvement of MRAC. Robust APPC Schemes. Adaptive Control of LTV Plants. Adaptive Control for Multivariable Plants. Stability Proofs of Robust MRAC Schemes. Stability Proofs of Robust APPC Schemes. Problems. Appendices. Swapping Lemmas. Optimization Techniques. Bibliography. Index. License Agreement and Limited Warranty.

This study proposes a finite-time tracking control system for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the presence of dynamic payloads and external disturbances. Changes in payload result in time-varying parametric uncertainties, making traditional control strategies ineffective. A sliding mode control (SMC) scheme is designed to handle uncertainties in both translational and rotational dynamics. A finite-time SMC (FTSMC) approach is developed to handle unknown time-varying mass and external disturbances in the translational dynamics. Furthermore, differences in the payload influence the inertia characteristics of the UAV, introducing further uncertainties in the feedback control design. A finite-time sliding mode controller is also implemented for rotational dynamics to guarantee the attitude stabilization under unknown inertia parameter variations. The proposed method has the objective to attenuate the chattering effect associated with traditional SMC within a finite time frame. Theoretical stability analysis with rigorous mathematical proofs is presented to confirm the effectiveness of the control scheme. Numerical simulations are provided to validate its performance under dynamic operating conditions.

Recently, a class of adaptive control schemes called L1 Adaptive Control (L1-AC) has been proposed and widely advertised in aerospace control for achieving fast and robust adaptation and better performance than the existing Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) Schemes. The L1-AC scheme is designed mainly for plants with full state measurement even though the name L1-AC has been used as an umbrella name for more general classes of plants. In this paper, we show that the L1-AC for plants with measured states is simply a standard MRAC with a low pass filter inserted in front of the control input. The analysis of the scheme is almost identical to that of MRAC as the same Lyapunov function is used to establish stability. The motivation for using the filter is the fact that for this class of adaptive schemes i.e. MRAC for plants with full state measurement the tracking error can be made arbitrarily small during transient by increasing the adaptive gain. A high adaptive gain however makes the differential equation of the adaptive law or estimator very stiff and leads to numerical problems that cause high oscillations in the estimated parameters leading to loss of adaptivity and deviations from what the theoretical properties dictate. The L1-AC approach mistook these numerical oscillations as properties of the adaptive scheme and inserted an input low pass filter in order to filter them out. While the filter helps reduce the frequency of these oscillations in the control law the price paid is high. First the numerical instability does not go away and the estimated parameters continue to oscillate without converging to the true parameters even in the presence of sufficiently rich signals. Second, due to the filter the tracking error is no longer guaranteed to converge to zero and the transient bounds for the tracking error also depend on the filter. As a result, the tracking properties of the L1-AC scheme are worse than what a simple MRAC scheme can generate with adaptive gains that could be high but away from the region of numerical instability. In addition, the presence of the filter reduces the robust stability margins in the presence of unmodeled dynamics and provides literally no advantage as simple robust MRAC techniques can solve the same problem achieving much better properties. The authors of L1-AC often compare the properties of a numerically unstable MRAC due to extremely high adaptive gains something that is prohibited by robust adaptive control with those of the filtered MRAC aka L1-AC to show that L1-AC performs better. Such comparisons are not only misleading but do not reveal what causes what giving the reader a false impression of a new theory that results to new performance and robustness improvements. The use of filters in adaptive control is not new and they are used to improve the performance and robustness of certain adaptive control schemes without destroying their ideal tracking properties. In this paper we present such a scheme that guarantees good transient performance and robustness and reveals the trade off between transient performance and robust stability.

The purpose of this chapter is to redesign the standard adaptive control schemes by using hybrid structure composed by Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) or Adaptive Pole Placement Control (APPC) strategies, associated to Variable Structure (VS) schemes for achieving non-standard robust adaptive control strategies. The both control strategies is now on named VS-MRAC and VS-APPC. We start with the theoretical base of standard control strategies APPC and MRAC, discussing their structures, as how their parameters are identified by adaptive observers and their robustness properties for guaranteeing their stability. After that, we introduce the sliding mode control (variable structure) in each control scheme for simplifying their design procedure. These design procedure are based on stability analysis of each hybrid robust control scheme. With the definition of both hybrid control strategies, it is analyzed their behavior when controlling system plants with unmodeled disturbances and parameter variation. It is established how the adaptive laws compensates these unmodeled dynamics. Furthermore, by using simple systems examples it is realized a comparison study between the hybrid structures VS-APPC and VSMRAC and the standard schemes APPC and MRAC. As the hybrid structures use switching laws due to the sliding mode scheme, the effect of chattering is analyzed on the implementation and consequently effects on the digital control hardware where sampling times are limiting factor. For reducing these drawbacks it is also discussed possibilities which kind of modifications can employ. Finally, some practical considerations are discussed on an implementation on motor drive systems.

A New Model Reference Adaptive Aircraft Controller

Model reference adaptive fuzzy control (MRAFC) is proposed to control the active power filter (APF) and model the APF system caused by nonlinear characteristics, variable parameters and external interferences. T-S fuzzy theory is utilized on the approximation of nonlinear model and the current tracking control. APF system based on MRAFC can be guaranteed to be asymptotical stable. Simulation results are included to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed controller and comparisons with APF system based on model reference adaptive control (MRAC) demonstrate that MRAFC method is capable of reducing the modeling error and tracking reference current signal accurately. Moreover, APF based on the proposed method shows the dynamic and static control performance of stronger robustness, better suitability and higher accuracy than the one based on MRAC modus.

This paper investigates the use of neural networks (NNs) in conventional model reference adaptive control (MRAC) to control a nonlinear magnetic levitation system. In the conventional MRAC scheme, the controller is designed to realize plant output convergence to a reference model output based on a plant which is linear. This scheme is effectively for controlling linear plants with unknown parameters. However, using MRAC to control the nonlinear magnetic levitation system in real time is a difficult control problem. In this paper, we incorporate a NN in MRAC to overcome the problem. The control input is given by the sum of the output of the adaptive controller and the output of the NN. The NN is used to compensate the nonlinearity of the plant that is not taken into consideration in the conventional MRAC. From experiment results, it has been shown that the plant output can converge to the reference model output after using NN in MRAC.

Robust Adaptive Control

During the past few years, finite control set predictive current control (PCC) method has attracted more and more attention in research and industry applications. However, PCC method could be improved by considering two points. First, the current reference used in the cost function of PCC control scheme is usually produced by a proportional and integration speed controller. Confront with load torque and time-varying system parameters, it is a better solution to design a disturbance estimation based feed-forward compensated controller. In this way, the current reference could be generated faster and more accurate. Second, the PCC method is model-based method which means the accuracy of the model parameters are essential. In real system, time-varying parameters existed almost always. This paper investigates a generalized proportional integral observer based PCC approach for dealing with load torque disturbance, time-varying parameter uncertainties. The effectiveness of the proposed method has also been confirmed by simulation and a lab-constructed experimental prototype.

In this paper, a new distributed model reference adaptive control (MRAC) design framework is proposed for containment control of heterogeneous uncertain multi-agent systems (MAS). Both groups of leaders and followers are considered to have general linear dynamics with the leaders subject to bounded external inputs and the followers subject to uncertain system dynamics. A novel distributed adaptive control protocol is developed under this new framework, which incorporates robust adaptive control with nonlinear compensator techniques to cope with unmeasurable bounded leaders' inputs and uncertain agent dynamics. Convergence of the containment control errors to an arbitrarily adjustable neighborhood of the origin is guaranteed based on the Lyapunov method. The proposed MRAC framework provides a promising alternative solution over the prevailing cooperative output regulation framework for heterogeneous linear MAS containment control. It enables us to handle more general system settings under more stringent control environments with limited accessibility of leaders' information and uncertain follower dynamics.