Boundary feedback stabilization of a semilinear model for the flow in star-shaped gas networks

The flow of gas through a pipeline network can be modelled by a coupled system of 1-d quasilinear hyperbolic equations. Often for the solution of control problems it is convenient to replace the quasilinear model by a simpler semilinear model. We analyze the behavior of such a semilinear model on a star-shaped network. The model is derived from the diagonal form of the quasilinear model by replacing the eigenvalues by the sound speed multiplied by 1 or -1 respectively, thus neglecting the influence of the gas velocity which is justified in the applications since it is much smaller than the sound speed. For a star-shaped network of pipes we present boundary feedback laws that stabilize the system state exponentially fast to a position of rest for sufficiently small initial data. We show the exponential decay of the $L^2$-norm for arbitrarily long pipes. This is remarkable since in general even for linear systems, for certain source terms the system can become exponentially unstable if the space interval is too long. Our proofs are based upon an observability inequality and suitably chosen Lyapunov functions. Numerical examples including a comparison of the semilinear and the quasilinear model are presented.

L2-Gain-Based Practical Stabilization of an Underactuated Surface Vessel

To obtain a stabilizer for an underactuated surface vessel with disturbances, an L2-gain design is proposed. Surge, sway, and yaw motions are considered in the dynamics of a surface ship. To ob-tain a robust adaptive controller, a diffeomorphism transformation and the Lyapunov function are employed in controller design. Two auxiliary controllers are introduced for an equivalent sys-tem after the diffeomorphism transformation. Different from the commonly used disturbance ob-server-based approach, the L2-gain design is used to suppress random uncertain disturbances in ship dynamics. To evaluate the controller performance in suppressing disturbances, two error sig-nals are defined in which the variables to be stabilized are incorporated. Both time-invariant dis-continuous and continuous feedback laws are proposed to obtain the control system. Stability analysis and simulation results demonstrate the validity of the controllers proposed. A comparison with a sliding mode controller is performed, and the results prove the advantage of the proposed controller in terms of faster convergence rate and chattering avoidance.

Introduction

This introductory chapter provides an overview of time-delay systems. Time-delay systems, also called systems with after-effect or dead-time, hereditary systems, equations with deviating argument, or differential-difference equations, are ubiquitous in practice. Some representative examples are found in chemical industry, electrical and mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, and management and traffic science. The most common forms of time delay in dynamic phenomena that arise in engineering practice are actuator and sensor delays. Due to the time it takes to receive the information needed for decision-making, to compute control decisions, and to execute these decisions, feedback systems often operate in the presence of delays. The chapter then illustrates the possible methods in control of time-delay systems. This book develops adaptive and robust predictor feedback laws for the compensation of the five uncertainties for general linear time-invariant (LTI) systems with input delays.

Exponential Stability for the Schlögl System by Pyragas Feedback

The Schlögl system is governed by a nonlinear reaction-diffusion partial differential equation with a cubic nonlinearity. In this paper, feedback laws of Pyragas-type are presented that stabilize the system in a periodic state with a given period and given boundary traces. We consider the system both with boundary feedback laws of Pyragas type and distributed feedback laws of Pyragas and classical type. Stabilization to periodic orbits is important for medical applications that concern Parkinson’s disease. The exponential stability of the closed loop system with respect to the L2-norm is proved. Numerical examples are provided.

On the construction of nearly time optimal continuous feedback laws around switching manifolds

In this paper, we address the question of the construction of a nearly time optimal feedback law for a minimum time optimal control problem, which is robust with respect to internal and external perturbations. For this purpose we take as starting point an optimal synthesis, which is a suitable collection of optimal trajectories. The construction we exhibit depends exclusively on the initial data obtained from the optimal feedback which is assumed to be known.