arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Thomas Chaffey.
We use the recently introduced concept of a Scaled Relative Graph (SRG) to develop a graphical analysis of input-output properties of feedback systems. The SRG of a nonlinear operator generalizes the Nyquist diagram of an LTI system. In the spirit of classical control theory, important robustness indicators of nonlinear feedback systems are measured as distances between SRGs.
Continued fractions are classical representations of complex objects (for example, real numbers) as sums and inverses of simpler objects (for example, integers). The analogy in linear circuit theory is a chain of series/parallel one-ports: the port behavior is a continued fraction containing the port behaviors of its elements. Truncating a continued fraction is a classical method of approximation, which corresponds to deleting the circuit elements furthest from the port. We apply this idea to chains of series/parallel one-ports composed of arbitrary nonlinear relations. This gives a model reduction method which automatically preserves properties such as incremental positivity. The Scaled Relative Graph (SRG) gives a graphical representation of the original and truncated port behaviors. The difference of these SRGs gives a bound on the approximation error, which is shown to be competitive with existing methods.
The splitting algorithms of monotone operator theory find zeros of sums of relations. This corresponds to solving series or parallel one-port electrical circuits, or the negative feedback interconnection of two subsystems. One-port circuits with series and parallel interconnections, or block diagrams with multiple forward and return paths, give rise to current-voltage relations consisting of nested sums and inverses. In this extended abstract, we present new splitting algorithms specially suited to these structures, for interconnections of monotone and anti-monotone relations.
Following the seminal work of Zames, the input-output theory of the 70s acknowledged that incremental properties (e.g. incremental gain) are the relevant quantities to study in nonlinear feedback system analysis. Yet, non-incremental analysis has dominated the use of dissipativity theory in nonlinear control from the 80s. Results connecting dissipativity theory and incremental analysis are scattered and progress has been limited. This abstract investigates whether this theoretical gap is of fundamental nature and considers new avenues to circumvent it.
The Scaled Relative Graph (SRG) is a generalization of the Nyquist diagram that may be plotted for nonlinear operators, and allows nonlinear robustness margins to be defined graphically. This abstract explores techniques for shaping the SRG of an operator in order to maximize these robustness margins.
We propose a new analog feedback controller based on the classical cross coupled electronic oscillator. The goal is to drive a linear passive plant into oscillations. We model the circuit as Lur'e system and we derive a new graphical condition to certify oscillations (inverse circle criterion for dominance theory). These conditions are then specialized to minimal control architectures like RLC and RC networks, and are illustrated with an example based on a DC motor model.
Given two nonlinear systems which only violate incremental passivity when their incremental gains are sufficiently small, we give a condition for their negative feedback interconnection to have finite incremental gain, which generalizes the incremental small gain and incremental passivity theorems. The property may be determined graphically by plotting the Scaled Relative Graphs (SRGs) of the systems, which provides engineering significance to the mathematical result.
Scaled relative graphs were recently introduced to analyze the convergence of optimization algorithms using two dimensional Euclidean geometry. In this paper, we connect scaled relative graphs to the classical theory of input/output systems. It is shown that the Nyquist diagram of an LTI system on $L_2$ is the convex hull of its scaled relative graph under a particular change of coordinates. The SRG may be used to visualize approximations of static nonlinearities such as the describing function and quadratic constraints, allowing system properties to be verified or disproved. Interconnections of systems correspond to graphical manipulations of their SRGs. This is used to provide a simple, graphical proof of the classical incremental passivity theorem.
A new method is presented for the analysis of limit cycle oscillations in mixed-feedback systems. The calculation of the limit cycle is reformulated as the zero finding of a mixed-monotone relation, that is, of the difference of two maximally monotone relations. The problem can then be solved efficiently by borrowing existing algorithms that minimize the difference of two convex functions. The potential of the method is illustrated on the classical Van der Pol oscillator.
The circuit-theoretic origins of maximal monotonicity are revisited using modern optimization algorithms for maximal monotone operators. We present an algorithm for computing the periodic behavior of an interconnection of maximal monotone systems using a fixed point iteration. The fixed point iteration may be split according to the interconnection structure of the system. In this preliminary work, the approach is demonstrated on port interconnections of maximal monotone resistors and LTI capacitors and inductors.