A Switched Systems Approach to Path Following with Intermittent State Feedback
For autonomous agents operating in environments with intermittent feedback, this method relaxes the constraint of constant feedback, but the results are incremental as they extend existing switched systems theory to a specific application.
This paper develops a switched systems-based control method for uncertain nonlinear systems with temporary loss of state feedback, using an observer and predictor to handle intermittent feedback. The approach ensures stability through dwell time conditions, with simulation and experimental results demonstrating performance.
Autonomous agents are often tasked with operating in an area where feedback is unavailable. Inspired by such applications, this paper develops a novel switched systems-based control method for uncertain nonlinear systems with temporary loss of state feedback. To compensate for intermittent feedback, an observer is used while state feedback is available to reduce the estimation error, and a predictor is utilized to propagate the estimates while state feedback is unavailable. Based on the resulting subsystems, maximum and minimum dwell time conditions are developed via a Lyapunov-based switched systems analysis to relax the constraint of maintaining constant feedback. Using the dwell time conditions, a switching trajectory is developed to enter and exit the feedback denied region in a manner that ensures the overall switched system remains stable. A scheme for designing a switching trajectory with a smooth transition function is provided. Simulation and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the performance of control design.