arXiv subjects

Francesco Ferrante

Publications and source records attributed to Francesco Ferrante.

30 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Observer Design for Linear Aperiodic Sampled-Data Systems: A Hybrid Systems Approach

Observer design for linear systems with aperiodic sampled-data measurements is addressed. To solve this problem, a novel hybrid observer is designed. The main peculiarity of the proposed observer consists of the use two output injection terms, one acting at the sampling instants and one providing an intersample injection. The error dynamics are augmented with a timer variable triggering the arrival of a new measurement and analyzed via hybrid system tools. Using Lyapunov theory, sufficient conditions for the convergence of the observer are provided. Relying on those conditions, an optimal LMI-based design is proposed for the observer gains. The effectiveness of the approach is illustrated in an example.

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arXiv2021

On sensor quantization in linear control systems: Krasovskii solutions meet semidefinite programming

Stability and stabilization for linear state feedback control systems in the presence of sensor quantization are studied. As the closed-loop system is described by a discontinuous right-hand side differential equation, Krasovskii solutions (to the closed-loop system) are considered. Sufficient conditions in the form of matrix inequalities are proposed to characterize uniform global asymptotic stability of a compact set containing the origin. Such conditions are shown to be always feasible whenever the quantization-free closed-loop system is asymptotically stable. Building on the obtained conditions, computationally affordable algorithms for the solution to the considered problems are illustrated. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is shown in three examples.

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arXiv2021

Robust interaction control of a dielectric elastomer actuator with variable stiffness

This paper presents an interaction control algorithm for a dielectric elastomer membrane actuator. The proposed method permits efficient exploitation of the controllable stiffness of the material, allowing to use the membrane as a "programmable spring" in applications such as robotic manipulation or haptic devices. To achieve this goal, we propose a design algorithm based on robust control theory and linear matrix inequalities. The resulting controller permits to arbitrarily shape the stiffness of the elastomer, while providing robust stability and performance with respect to model nonlinearities. A self-sensing displacement estimation algorithm allows implementation of the method without the need of a deformation sensor, thus reducing cost and size of the system. The approach is validated on an experimental prototype consisting of an elastomer membrane preloaded with a bistable biasing spring.

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arXiv2021

On Angular Speed Estimation of Rigid Bodies

The problem of estimating the angular speed of a solid body from attitude measurements is addressed. To solve this problem, we propose an observer whose dynamics are not constrained to evolve on any specific manifold. This drastically simplifies the analysis of the proposed observer. Using Lyapunov analysis, sufficient conditions for global asymptotic stability of a set wherein the estimation error is equal to zero are established. In addition, the proposed methodology is adapted to deal with angular speed estimation for systems evolving on the unit circle. The approach is illustrated through several numerical simulations.

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arXiv2021

Synchronization of Identical Boundary-Actuated Semilinear Infinite-Dimensional Systems

This paper deals with synchronization of a class of infinite-dimensional systems. The considered network is described by a collection of semilinear Lipschitz boundary-actuated infinite-dimensional dynamics. For undirected connected graphs, sufficient conditions for asymptotic synchronization are established. We show that the proposed conditions when applied to systems of hyperbolic semilinear conservation laws can be recast into a set of matrix inequalities. For this class of systems, sufficient conditions in the form of linear matrix inequalities for the design of synchronizing policies are provided.

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arXiv2021

On the Design of Structured Stabilizers for LTI Systems

Designing a static state-feedback controller subject to structural constraint achieving asymptotic stability is a relevant problem with many applications, including network decentralized control, coordinated control, and sparse feedback design. Leveraging on the Projection Lemma, this work presents a new solution to a class of state-feedback control problems, in which the controller is constrained to belong to a given linear space. We show through extensive discussion and numerical examples that our approach leads to several advantages with respect to existing methods: first, it is computationally efficient; second, it is less conservative than previous methods, since it relaxes the requirement of restricting the Lyapunov matrix to a block-diagonal form.

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arXiv2021

Robust Almost Global Splay State Stabilization of Pulse Coupled Oscillators

This technical note deals with the problem of asymptotically stabilizing the splay state configuration of a network of identical pulse coupled oscillators through the design of the their phase response function. The network of pulse coupled oscillators is modeled as a hybrid system. The design of the phase response function is performed to achieve almost global asymptotic stability of a set wherein oscillators' phases are evenly distributed on the unit circle. To establish such a result, a novel Lyapunov function is proposed. Robustness with respect to frequency perturbation is assessed. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed methodology is shown in an example.

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arXiv2021

A Hybrid Dynamical Modeling Framework for Shape Memory Alloy Wire Actuated Structures

In this paper, a hybrid model for single-crystal Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wire actuators is presented. The result is based on a mathematical reformulation of the Müller-Achenbach-Seelecke (MAS) model, which provides an accurate and interconnection-oriented description of the SMA hysteretic response. The strong nonlinearity and high numerical stiffness of the MAS model, however, hinder its practical use for simulation and control of complex SMA-driven systems. The main idea behind the hybrid reformulation is based on dividing the mechanical hysteresis of the SMA into five operating modes, each one representing a different physical state of the material. By properly deriving the switching conditions among those modes in a physically-consistent way, the MAS model is effectively reformulated within a hybrid dynamical setting. The main advantage of the hybrid reformulation is the possibility of describing the material dynamics with a simplified set of state equations while maintaining all benefits of the physics-based description offered by the MAS model After describing the novel approach, simulation studies are conducted on a flexible robotic module actuated by protagonist-antagonist SMA wires. Through comparative numerical analysis, it is shown how the hybrid model provides the same accuracy as the MAS model while saving up to 80% of the simulation time. Moreover, the new modeling framework opens up the possibility of addressing SMA control from a hybrid systems perspective.

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arXiv2021

A Hybrid Controller for DOS-Resilient String-Stable Vehicle Platoons

This paper deals with the design of resilient Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) for homogeneous vehicle platoons in which communication is vulnerable to Denial-of-Service (DOS) attacks. We consider DOS attacks as consecutive packet dropouts. We present a controller tuning procedure based on linear matrix inequalities (LMI) that maximizes the resiliency to DOS attacks, while guaranteeing performance and string stability. The design procedure returns controller gains and gives a lower bound on the maximum allowable number of successive packet dropouts. A numerical example is employed to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

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arXiv2021

Observer Design for Systems of Conservation Laws with Lipschitz Nonlinear Boundary Dynamics

The problem of state estimation for a system of coupled hyperbolic PDEs and ODEs with Lipschitz nonlinearities with boundary measurements is considered. An infinite dimensional observer with a linear boundary injection term is used to solve the state estimation problem. The interconnection of the observer and the system is written in estimation error coordinates and analyzed as an abstract dynamical system. The observer is designed to achieve global exponential stability of estimation error with respect to a suitable norm. Sufficient conditions in the form of matrix inequalities are proposed to design the observer. Numerical simulations support and corroborate the theoretical results.

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arXiv2020

$\mathcal{L}_2$ State Estimation with Guaranteed Convergence Speed in the Presence of Sporadic Measurements

This paper deals with the problem of estimating the state of a linear time-invariant system in the presence of sporadically available measurements and external perturbations. An observer with a continuous intersample injection term is proposed. Such an intersample injection is provided by a linear dynamical system, whose state is reset to the measured output estimation error at each sampling time. The resulting system is augmented with a timer triggering the arrival of a new measurement and analyzed in a hybrid system framework. The design of the observer is performed to achieve global exponential stability with a given decay rate to a set wherein the estimation error is equal to zero. Robustness with respect to external perturbations and $\mathcal{L}_2$-external stability from the plant perturbation to a given performance output are considered. Moreover, computationally efficient algorithms based on the solution to linear matrix inequalities are proposed to design the observer. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed methodology is shown in three examples.

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arXiv2020

Boundary stabilization of systems of high order PDEs arising from flexible robotics

The problem of stabilization of a system of coupled PDEs of the forth-order by means of boundary control is investigated. The considered setup arises from the classical Euler-Bernoulli beam model, and constitutes a generalization of flexible mechanical systems. A linear feedback controller is proposed, and using an abstract formulation based on operator semigroup theory, we are able to prove the well-posedness and the stability of the closed-loop system. The performances of the proposed controller are illustrated by means of numerical simulations.

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