Common Noninteracting Control with Simultaneous Common Partial Zeroing with Application to a Tracked UGV

Abstract

In several MIMO system applications, the deviations of some output performance variables from their nominal values are required to be controlled independently, while the other performance variables are required to remain at their nominal value. This problem, named noninteracting control with simultaneous partial output zeroing, is important in the case of the common design of multi-model systems. To this end, the problem of a common noninteracting control with simultaneous common partial output zeroing is formulated. The present paper aims to develop a solution to the problem of multi-model normal linear time-invariant systems via regular and static measurement output feedback. The present approach follows the method developed for the solution of the common I/O decoupling problem. The main results of the paper are the introduction and the formulation of the problem at hand, the establishment of the necessary and sufficient conditions for its solvability, and the derivation of the respective general solution of the controller matrices. For the resulting closed-loop system, the additional design requirement of approximate command following a simultaneous I/O stabilizability is studied using a composite norm 2 type cost function and a metaheuristic algorithm for the derivation of the free parameters of the controller. The present results are illustrated through a numerical example of a nonlinear process with two operating points. Moreover, all the above results are successfully applied to the two-model description of a robot-tracked UGV, using a common controller feeding back measurements of the motor currents and the orientation of the vehicle.