A Novel Prescribed-Performance Path-Following Problem for Non-Holonomic Vehicles

The issue of achieving prescribed-performance path following in robotics is addressed in this paper,where the aim is to ensure that a desired path within a specified region is accu-rately converged to by the controlled vehicle.In this context,a novel form of the prescribed performance guiding vector field is introduced,accompanied by a prescribed-time sliding mode con-trol approach.Furthermore,the interdependence among the pre-scribed parameters is discussed.To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method,numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the approach.

Finite-Time Stabilization for Constrained Discrete-time Systems by Using Model Predictive Control

In this paper, a model predictive control(MPC)framework is proposed for finite-time stabilization of linear and nonlinear discrete-time systems subject to state and control constraints. The proposed MPC framework guarantees the finite-time convergence property by assigning the control horizon equal to the dimension of the overall system, and only penalizing the terminal cost in the optimization, where the stage costs are not penalized explicitly. A terminal inequality constraint is added to guarantee the feasibility and stability of the closed-loop system.Initial feasibility can be improved via augmentation. The finite-time convergence of the proposed MPC is proved theoretically,and is supported by simulation examples.

Hyperbolic Tangent Function-Based Protocols for Global/Semi-Global Finite-Time Consensus of Multi-Agent Systems

This paper investigates the problem of global/semi-global finite-time consensus for integrator-type multi-agent sys-tems.New hyperbolic tangent function-based protocols are pro-posed to achieve global and semi-global finite-time consensus for both single-integrator and double-integrator multi-agent systems with leaderless undirected and leader-following directed commu-nication topologies.These new protocols not only provide an explicit upper-bound estimate for the settling time,but also have a user-prescribed bounded control level.In addition,compared to some existing results based on the saturation function,the pro-posed approach considerably simplifies the protocol design and the stability analysis.Illustrative examples and an application demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed protocols.

Multi-circular formation control with reinforced transient profiles for nonholonomic vehicles:A path-following framework

This article investigates a multi-circular path-following formation control with reinforced transient profiles for nonholonomic vehicles connected by a digraph.A multi-circular formation controller endowed with the feature of spatial-temporal decoupling is devised for a group of vehicles guided by a virtual leader evolving along an implicit path,which allows for a circumnavigation on multiple circles with an anticipant angular spacing.In addition,notice that it typically imposes a stringent time constraint on time-sensitive enclosing scenarios,hence an improved prescribed performance control(IPPC)using novel tighter behavior boundaries is presented to enhance transient capabilities with an ensured appointed-time convergence free from any overshoots.The significant merits are that coordinated circumnavigation along different circles can be realized via executing geometric and dynamic assignments independently with modified transient profiles.Furthermore,all variables existing in the entire system are analyzed to be convergent.Simulation and experimental results are provided to validate the utility of suggested solution.

Vision-Based Fixed-Time Uncooperative Aerial Target Tracking for UAV

Dear Editor,In this letter,a vision-based fixed-time control is proposed for an unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)with actuator saturation to track an uncooperative target.The fixed-time control is designed in backstepping framework.The relative states between UAV and the target are not directly measured,and are estimated by an onboard monocular camera.

Constrained Moving Path Following Control for UAV With Robust Control Barrier Function

This paper studies the moving path following(MPF)problem for fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)under output constraints and wind disturbances.The vehicle is required to converge to a reference path moving with respect to the inertial frame,while the path following error is not expected to violate the predefined boundaries.Differently from existing moving path following guidance laws,the proposed method removes complex geometric transformation by formulating the moving path following problem into a second-order time-varying control problem.A nominal moving path following guidance law is designed with disturbances and their derivatives estimated by high-order disturbance observers.To guarantee that the path following error will not exceed the prescribed bounds,a robust control barrier function is developed and incorporated into controller design with quadratic program based framework.The proposed method does not require the initial position of the UAV to be within predefined boundaries.And the safety margin concept makes error-constraint be respected even if in a noisy environment.The proposed guidance law is validated through numerical simulations of shipboard landing and hardware-in-theloop(HIL)experiments.

Fundamental Trackability Problems for Iterative Learning Control

Generally, the classic iterative learning control(ILC)methods focus on finding design conditions for repetitive systems to achieve the perfect tracking of any specified trajectory,whereas they ignore a fundamental problem of ILC: whether the specified trajectory is trackable, or equivalently, whether there exist some inputs for the repetitive systems under consideration to generate the specified trajectory? The current paper contributes to dealing with this problem. Not only is a concept of trackability introduced formally for any specified trajectory in ILC, but also some related trackability criteria are established. Further, the relation between the trackability and the perfect tracking tasks for ILC is bridged, based on which a new convergence analysis approach is developed for ILC by leveraging properties of a functional Cauchy sequence(FCS). Simulation examples are given to verify the effectiveness of the presented trackability criteria and FCS-induced convergence analysis method for ILC.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles:Control Methods and Future Challenges

With the rapid development of computer technology,automatic control technology and communication technology,research on unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs)has attracted extensive attention from all over the world during the last decades.Particularly due to the demand of various civil applications,the conceptual design of UAV and autonomous flight control technology have been promoted and developed mutually.This paper is devoted to providing a brief review of the UAV control issues,including motion equations,various classical and advanced control approaches.The basic ideas,applicable conditions,advantages and disadvantages of these control approaches are illustrated and discussed.Some challenging topics and future research directions are raised.

Robust Optimization-Based Iterative Learning Control for Nonlinear Systems With Nonrepetitive Uncertainties

This paper aims to solve the robust iterative learning control(ILC)problems for nonlinear time-varying systems in the presence of nonrepetitive uncertainties.A new optimization-based method is proposed to design and analyze adaptive ILC,for which robust convergence analysis via a contraction mapping approach is realized by leveraging properties of substochastic matrices.It is shown that robust tracking tasks can be realized for optimization-based adaptive ILC,where the boundedness of system trajectories and estimated parameters can be ensured,regardless of unknown time-varying nonlinearities and nonrepetitive uncertainties.Two simulation tests,especially implemented for an injection molding process,demonstrate the effectiveness of our robust optimization-based ILC results.

Feedback iterative learning control for time-delay systems based on 2D analysis approach

This paper deals with the iterative learning control （ILC） design for multiple-input multiple-output （MIMO）,time-delay systems （TDS）.Two feedback ILC schemes are considered using the so-called two-dimensional （2D） analysis approach.It shows that continuous-discrete 2D Roesser systems can be developed to describe the entire learning dynamics of both ILC schemes,based on which necessary and sufficient conditions for their stability can be provided.A numerical example is included to validate the theoretical analysis.

Improved Robust Adaptive Control of a Fluidized Bed Combustor for Sewage Sludge

This paper presents a robust model reference adaptive control scheme to deal with un-certain time delay in the dynamical model of a ?uidized bed combustor for sewage sludge. Thetheoretical analysis and simulation results show that the proposed scheme can guarantee not onlystability and robustness, but also the adaptive decoupling performance of the system.

Flocking for swarm systems with fixed topology in a changing environment

This paper is mainly devoted to the flocking of a class of swarm with fixed topology in a changing environment. Firstly, the controller for each agent is proposed by employing the error terms between the state of the agent and the average state of its neighbors. Secondly, a sufficient condition for the swarm to achieve flocking is presented under assumptions that the gradient of the environment is bounded and the initial position graph is connected. Thirdly, as the environment is a plane, it is further proved that the velocity of each agent finally converges to the velocity of the swarm center although not one agent knows where the center of the group is. Finally, numerical examples are included to illustrate the obtained results.

Agreement coordination for second-order multi-agent systems with disturbances

This paper is devoted to the study of consensus problems for the second-order multi-agent systems with external disturbances, switching topology and commanication time-delay. Firstly, we perform a model transformation and separate the agreement states from the disagreement states. Secondly, according to this system, we derive a sufficient condition for consensus problem without disturbances by using the Lyapunov-based approach. Furthermore, we give a design criterion in terms of bilinear matrix inequality for the control protocol in the presence of disturbances. Finally, numerical simulations are provided to show the effectiveness of our strategies.

Modeling and Control for Magnetostrictive Hysteresis

To deal with the rate-dependent hysteresis presented in a magnetostrictive actuator, a new method of modeling and control is proposed. The relationship between inputs and outputs of the actuator is approximately described by a dynamic differential equation with two rate-dependent coefficients, each expressed as a polynomial of frequency. For a given frequency, the coefficients will be able to be estimated by approximating the experimental data of the outputs of the magnetostrictive actuator. Based on this model, a quasi-PID controller is designed. In the space of the coefficients and frequency, the stable domain of closed loop system with hysteresis is analyzed. The numerical simulation and experiments have born witness to the feasibility of the proposed new method.

Multiview Locally Linear Embedding for Spectral-Spatial Dimensionality Reduction of Hyperspectral Imagery

Dear Editor,Dimensionality reduction(DR)plays a prominent role in the processing of hyperspectral imagery.Considering the high dimensionality of multiple features,this letter presents a new unsupervised DR method named multiview locally linear embedding(MLLE),which captures the local linearity and global nonlinearity of the data sufficiently.We formulate MLLE as an optimization problem,where the diversity and complementarity of multiple features is fully exploited.An effective alternating optimization scheme is derived,and a linear model based on ridge regression is extended to alleviate the high correlation among single-view features.Experimental results on the Indian Pines and Pavia University datasets demonstrate the superiority of our proposed MLLE.

Disagreement and Antagonism in Signed Networks: A Survey

Signed networks refer to a class of network systems including not only cooperative but also antagonistic interactions among nodes.Due to the existence of antagonistic interactions in signed networks,the agreement of nodes may not be established,instead of which disagreement behaviors generally emerge.This paper reviews several different disagreement behaviors in signed networks under the single-integrator linear dynamics,where two classes of topologies,namely,the static topology and the dynamic topology,are considered.For the static signed networks with the adjacency weights as(time-varying)scalars,we investigate the convergence behaviors and the fluctuation behaviors with respect to fixed topologies and switching topologies,respectively,and give some brief introductions on the disagreement behaviors of general time-varying signed networks.Correspondingly,several classes of behavior analysis approaches are also provided.For the dynamic signed networks with the adjacency weights as transfer functions or linear time-invariant systems,we show the specific descriptions and characteristics of them such that the disagreement behaviors can be obtained by resorting to the derived static signed graphs.Furthermore,we give their applications to the behavior analysis of static signed networks in the presence of high-order dynamics or communication delays.