Arjan van der Schaft

Arjan van der Schaft, Shodhan Rao, Bayu Jayawardhana

Motivated by recent progress on the interplay between graph theory, dynamics, and systems theory, we revisit the analysis of chemical reaction networks described by mass action kinetics. For reaction networks possessing a thermodynamic equilibrium we derive a compact formulation exhibiting at the same time the structure of the complex graph and the stoichiometry of the network, and which admits a direct thermodynamical interpretation. This formulation allows us to easily characterize the set of equilibria and their stability properties. Furthermore, we develop a framework for interconnection of chemical reaction networks. Finally we discuss how the established framework leads to a new approach for model reduction.

Michele Cucuzzella, Sebastian Trip, Claudio De Persis et al.

In this paper a novel distributed control algorithm for current sharing and voltage regulation in Direct Current (DC) microgrids is proposed. The DC microgrid is composed of several Distributed Generation units (DGUs), including Buck converters and current loads. The considered model permits an arbitrary network topology and is affected by unknown load demand and modelling uncertainties. The proposed control strategy exploits a communication network to achieve proportional current sharing using a consensus-like algorithm. Voltage regulation is achieved by constraining the system to a suitable manifold. Two robust control strategies of Sliding Mode (SM) type are developed to reach the desired manifold in a finite time. The proposed control scheme is formally analyzed, proving the achievement of proportional current sharing, while guaranteeing that the weighted average voltage of the microgrid is identical to the weighted average of the voltage references.

Nima Monshizadeh, Pooya Monshizadeh, Romeo Ortega et al.

In this paper, we examine the shifted passivity property of port-Hamiltonian systems. Shifted passivity accounts for the fact that in many applications the desired steady-state values of the input and output variables are nonzero, and thus one is interested in passivity with respect to the shifted signals. We consider port-Hamiltonian systems with strictly convex Hamiltonian, and derive conditions under which shifted passivity is guaranteed. In case the Hamiltonian is quadratic and state dependency appears in an affine manner in the dissipation and interconnection matrices, our conditions reduce to negative semidefiniteness of an appropriately constructed constant matrix. Moreover, we elaborate on how these conditions can be extended to the case when the shifted passivity property can be enforced via output feedback, thus paving the path for controller design. Stability of forced equilibria of the system is analyzed invoking the proposed passivity conditions. The utility and relevance of the results are illustrated with their application to a 6th order synchronous generator model as well as a controlled rigid body system.

Pooya Monshizadeh, Juan E. Machado, Romeo Ortega et al.

We study a type of port-Hamiltonian system, in which the controller or disturbance is not applied to the flow variables, but to the systems power, a scenario that appears in many practical applications. A suitable framework is provided to model these systems and to investigate their shifted passivity properties, based on which, a stability analysis is carried out. The applicability of the results is illustrated with the important problem of stability analysis of electrical circuits with constant power loads.

Shodhan Rao, Arjan van der Schaft, Bayu Jayawardhana

In this paper we derive a compact mathematical formulation describing the dynamics of chemical reaction networks that are complex-balanced and are governed by mass action kinetics. The formulation is based on the graph of (substrate and product) complexes and the stoichiometric information of these complexes, and crucially uses a balanced weighted Laplacian matrix. It is shown that this formulation leads to elegant methods for characterizing the space of all equilibria for complex-balanced networks and for deriving stability properties of such networks. We propose a method for model reduction of complex-balanced networks, which is similar to the Kron reduction method for electrical networks and involves the computation of Schur complements of the balanced weighted Laplacian matrix.

Bart Besselink, Karl H. Johansson, Arjan van der Schaft

This paper introduces assume/guarantee contracts on continuous-time control systems, hereby extending contract theories for discrete systems to certain new model classes and specifications. Contracts are regarded as formal characterizations of control specifications, providing an alternative to specifications in terms of dissipativity properties or set-invariance. The framework has the potential to capture a richer class of specifications more suitable for complex engineering systems. The proposed contracts are supported by results that enable the verification of contract implementation and the comparison of contracts. These results are illustrated by an example of a vehicle following system.

Marko Seslija, Jacquelien M. A. Scherpen, Arjan van der Schaft

Simplicial Dirac structures as finite analogues of the canonical Stokes-Dirac structure, capturing the topological laws of the system, are defined on simplicial manifolds in terms of primal and dual cochains related by the coboundary operators. These finite-dimensional Dirac structures offer a framework for the formulation of standard input-output finite-dimensional port-Hamiltonian systems that emulate the behavior of distributed-parameter port-Hamiltonian systems. This paper elaborates on the matrix representations of simplicial Dirac structures and the resulting port-Hamiltonian systems on simplicial manifolds. Employing these representations, we consider the existence of structural invariants and demonstrate how they pertain to the energy shaping of port-Hamiltonian systems on simplicial manifolds.

Pooya Monshizadeh, Claudio De Persis, Tjerk Stegink et al.

In this paper, we address the problem of stability and frequency regulation of a recently proposed inverter. In this type of inverter, the DC-side capacitor emulates the inertia of a synchronous generator. First, we remodel the dynamics from the electrical power perspective. Second, using this model, we show that the system is stable if connected to a constant power load, and the frequency can be regulated by a suitable choice of the controller. Next, and as the main focus of this paper, we analyze the stability of a network of these inverters, and show that frequency regulation can be achieved by using an appropriate controller design. Finally, a numerical example is provided which illustrates the effectiveness of the method.

Pooya Monshizadeh, Claudio De Persis, Nima Monshizadeh et al.

In this paper, we investigate the properties of an improved swing equation model for synchronous generators. This model is derived by omitting the main simplifying assumption of the conventional swing equation, and requires a novel analysis for the stability and frequency regulation. We consider two scenarios. First we study the case that a synchronous generator is connected to a constant load. Second, we inspect the case of the single machine connected to an infinite bus. Simulations verify the results.

Rodlfo Reyes-Báez, Arjan van der Schaft, Bayu Jayawardhana

Based on recent advances in contraction methods in systems and control, in this paper we present the virtual differential passivity based control (v-dPBC) technique. This is a constructive design method that combines the concept of virtual systems and of differential passivity. We apply the method to the tracking control problem of flexible joints robots (FJRs) which are formulated in the port-Hamiltonian (pH) framework. Simulations on a single flexible joint link are presented for showing the performance of a controller obtained with this approach.

Tjerk Stegink, Claudio De Persis, Arjan van der Schaft

This paper investigates the problem of optimal frequency regulation of multi-machine power networks where each synchronous machine is described by a sixth order model. By analyzing the physical energy stored in the network and the generators, a port-Hamiltonian representation of the multi-machine system is obtained. Moreover, it is shown that the open-loop system is passive with respect to its steady states which implies that passive controllers can be used to control the multi-machine network. As a special case, a distributed consensus based controller is designed that regulates the frequency and minimizes a global quadratic generation cost in the presence of a constant unknown demand. In addition, the proposed controller allows freedom in choosing any desired connected undirected weighted communication graph.

Serkan Gugercin, Rostyslav V. Polyuga, Christopher Beattie et al.

Port-Hamiltonian systems result from port-based network modeling of physical systems and are an important example of passive state-space systems. In this paper, we develop the framework for model reduction of large-scale multi-input/multi-output port-Hamiltonian systems via tangential rational interpolation. The resulting reduced-order model not only is a rational tangential interpolant but also retains the port-Hamiltonian structure; hence is passive. This reduction methodology is described in both energy and co-energy system coordinates. We also introduce an $\mathcal{H}_2$-inspired algorithm for effectively choosing the interpolation points and tangential directions. The algorithm leads a reduced port-Hamiltonian model that satisfies a subset of $\mathcal{H}_2$-optimality conditions. We present several numerical examples that illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method showing that it outperforms other existing techniques in both quality and numerical efficiency.

Rodolfo Reyes-Báez, Alejandro Donaire, Arjan van der Schaft et al.

In this work we propose a family of trajectory tracking controllers for marine craft in the port-Hamiltonian (pH) framework using virtual differential passivity based control (v-dPBC). Two pH models of marine craft are considered, one in a body frame and another in an inertial frame. The structure and workless forces of pH models are exploited to design two virtual control systems which are related to the original marine craft's pH models. These virtual systems are rendered differentially passive with an imposed steady-state trajectory, both by means of a control scheme. Finally, the original marine craft pH models in closed-loop with above controllers solve the trajectory tracking problem. The performance of the closedloop system is evaluated on numerical simulations.

Shodhan Rao, Arjan van der Schaft, Karen van Eunen et al.

In this paper we propose a model-order reduction method for chemical reaction networks governed by general enzyme kinetics, including the mass-action and Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The model-order reduction method is based on the Kron reduction of the weighted Laplacian matrix which describes the graph structure of complexes in the chemical reaction network. We apply our method to a yeast glycolysis model, where the simulation result shows that the transient behaviour of a number of key metabolites of the reduced-order model is in good agreement with those of the full-order model.

Marko Seslija, Arjan van der Schaft, Jacquelien M. A. Scherpen

Inspired by the recent developments in modeling and analysis of reaction networks, we provide a geometric formulation of the reversible reaction networks under the influence of diffusion. Using the graph knowledge of the underlying reaction network, the obtained reaction-diffusion system is a distributed-parameter port-Hamiltonian system on a compact spatial domain. Motivated by the need for computer based design, we offer a spatially consistent discretization of the PDE system and, in a systematic manner, recover a compartmental ODE model on a simplicial triangulation of the spatial domain. Exploring the properties of a balanced weighted Laplacian matrix of the reaction network and the Laplacian of the simplicial complex, we characterize the space of equilibrium points and provide a simple stability analysis on the state space modulo the space of equilibrium points. The paper rules out the possibility of the persistence of spatial patterns for the compartmental balanced reaction-diffusion networks.

Rodolfo Reyes-Báez, Arjan van der Schaft, Bayu Jayawardhana

In this paper, we propose a novel trajectory tracking controller for fully-actuated mechanical port-Hamiltonian (pH) systems, which is based on recent advances in contraction-based control theory. Our proposed controller renders a desired sliding manifold (where the reference trajectory lies) attractive by making the corresponding error system partially contracting. Finally, we present numerical simulation results where a SCARA robot is commanded by our proposed tracking control law.

Rodolfo Reyes-Baez, Arjan van der Schaft, Bayu Jayawardhana

In this paper we present three distributed control laws for the coordination of networked Euler-Lagrange (EL) systems. We first reformulate the passivity-based control design method in \cite{Arcak} by considering that each edge is associated with an \emph{artificial spring system} instead of the usual diffusive coupling among the communicating agents. With this configuration, the networked EL system possesses a "symmetric" feedback structure which together with the strict passivity of both agents' and edges' dynamics lead to a strictly passive network dynamics. Subsequently we present the networked version of two different passivity-based tracking controllers %local controllers that are particular cases of our method and the one in \cite{Arcak}. Numerical simulation is presented to show the performance of the proposed methods.

Jurrien Keulen, Bayu Jayawardhana, Arjan van der Schaft

This paper presents a port-Hamiltonian formulation of hysteretic energy storage elements. First, we revisit the passivity property of backlash-driven storage elements by presenting a family of storage functions associated to the dissipativity property of such elements. We explicitly derive the corresponding available storage and required supply functions `a la Willems [1], and show the interlacing property of the aforementioned family of storage functions sandwiched between the available storage and required supply functions. Second, using the proposed family of storage functions, we present a port-Hamiltonian formulation of hysteretic inductors as prototypical storage elements in port-Hamiltonian systems. In particular, we show how a Hamiltonian function can be chosen from the family of storage functions and how the hysteretic elements can be expressed as port-Hamiltonian system with feedthrough term, where the feedthrough term represents energy dissipation. Correspondingly, we illustrate its applicability in describing an RLC circuit (in parallel and in series) containing a hysteretic inductor element.

Pooya Monshizadeh, Nima Monshizadeh, Claudio De Persis et al.

Output impedances are inherent elements of power sources in the electrical grids. In this paper, we give an answer to the following question: What is the effect of output impedances on the inductivity of the power network? To address this question, we propose a measure to evaluate the inductivity of a power grid, and we compute this measure for various types of output impedances. Following this computation, it turns out that network inductivity highly depends on the algebraic connectivity of the network. By exploiting the derived expressions of the proposed measure, one can tune the output impedances in order to enforce a desired level of inductivity on the power system. Furthermore, the results show that the more "connected" the network is, the more the output impedances diffuse into the network. Finally, using Kron reduction, we provide examples that demonstrate the utility and validity of the method.

Rodolfo Reyes-Báez, Arjan van der Schaft, Bayu Jayawardhana et al.

In this work we present a constructive method to design a family of virtual contraction based controllers that solve the standard trajectory tracking problem of flexible-joint robots (FJRs) in the port-Hamiltonian (pH) framework. The proposed design method, called virtual contraction based control (v-CBC), combines the concepts of virtual control systems and contraction analysis. It is shown that under potential energy matching conditions, the closed-loop virtual system is contractive and exponential convergence to a predefined trajectory is guaranteed. Moreover, the closed-loop virtual system exhibits properties such as structure preservation, differential passivity and the existence of (incrementally) passive maps.

Sebastian Trip, Michele Cucuzzella, Claudio De Persis et al.

This paper proposes a distributed sliding mode control strategy for optimal Load Frequency Control (OLFC) in power networks, where besides frequency regulation also minimization of generation costs is achieved (economic dispatch). We study a nonlinear power network partitioned into control areas, where each area is modelled by an equivalent generator including voltage and second order turbine-governor dynamics. The turbine-governor dynamics suggest the design of a sliding manifold, such that the turbine-governor system enjoys a suitable passivity property, once the sliding manifold is attained. This work offers a new perspective on OLFC by means of sliding mode control, and in comparison with existing literature, we relax required dissipation conditions on the generation side and assumptions on the system parameters.

Tjerk Stegink, Claudio De Persis, Arjan van der Schaft

In this paper a unifying energy-based approach is provided to the modeling and stability analysis of power systems coupled with market dynamics. We consider a standard model of the power network with a third-order model for the synchronous generators involving voltage dynamics. By applying the primal-dual gradient method to a social welfare optimization, a distributed dynamic pricing algorithm is obtained, which can be naturally formulated in port-Hamiltonian form. By interconnection with the physical model a closed-loop port-Hamiltonian system is obtained, whose properties are exploited to prove asymptotic stability to the set of optimal points. This result is extended to the case that also general nodal power constraints are included into the social welfare problem. Additionally, the case of line congestion and power transmission costs in acyclic networks is covered. Finally, a dynamic pricing algorithm is proposed that does not require knowledge about the power supply and demand.