CAREER: Utilizing Nonlinearity - Leverage to Global Synthesis of Inherently Nonlinear Systems

在这个项目中，我们提出了一个密集的计划，开发新的控制器设计方法，为各种固有的非线性系统，并应用到欠驱动机械系统的控制问题，移动的机器人与柔性链接，和其他实际系统的各种不确定性。所考虑的系统不具有可控线性化，这是现有控制方案的共同要求。因此，这些系统的控制问题大多数仍然是开放的，并确实给控制工程带来了新的挑战。在这个项目中，我们致力于发展理论上合理和实际上有用的控制器设计方案，使我们能够解决全局镇定，自适应调节和输出反馈控制的困难问题，对于固有的非线性系统，不能充分使用现有的控制方法。充分利用系统的非线性特性，对固有非线性系统进行有效控制。最近的研究工作的基础上，这一工具导致了新的解决方案，一些控制问题的系统与不可控的线性化，并表明，非常有前途的进展，可以实现由这一研究计划。教育组成部分，这一职业发展计划的目的是发展和重塑课程，引进创新的教学技术，指导本科生和研究生，建立新的实验室，and creating创建research-oriented研究导向projects项目and hands-on实践experiments实验.通过这些努力，我们相信该研究项目可以有效地融入德克萨斯大学圣安东尼奥分校的学术课程。此外，在让学生接触最先进技术的同时，该教育计划还将有助于弥合理论研究与工程实践之间的差距，从而激发学生对控制工程的兴趣。

In this project, we propose an intensive program to develop new controller designmethodologies for a variety of inherently nonlinear systems, and to apply the findings tothe control problems of underactuated mechanical systems, mobile robots with flex link,and other practical systems with various uncertainties. The systems under consideration donot have a controllable linearization that is a common requirement of existing controlschemes. Therefore, most of the control problems for these systems are still open andindeed bring new challenges to the control engineering. In this project, we concentrate onthe development of both theoretically sound and practically useful controller designschemes, which enable us to solve the difficult problems of global stabilization, adaptiveregulation, and output feedback control, for inherently nonlinear systems that cannot beadequately controlled using the existing methods.Our primary approach relies on the adding a power integrator technique developed by theproposer and collaborators, which fully utilizes the nonlinearity of the systems toeffectively control the inherently nonlinear systems. The recent research work based onthis tool has led to new solutions to a number of control problems for systems withuncontrollable linearization, and suggests that very promising advances can be achieved bythis research program.The educational component of this CAREER development plan aims at developing and reshapingcourses, introducing innovative teaching techniques, mentoring undergraduate and graduatestudents, setting up new laboratories, and creating research-oriented projects andhands-on experiments. With all these efforts, we believe that the research program can beeffectively integrated into the academic curriculum of the University of Texas at SanAntonio. Moreover, while exposing the students to state-of-the-art techniques, theeducation plan will also help bridge the gap between theoretical research and engineeringpractice, and therefore stimulate students' interest in control engineering.