Orbital Stability Analysis for Perturbed Nonlinear Systems and Natural Entrainment via Adaptive Andronov–Hopf Oscillator

Abstract

Periodic orbits often describe desired state trajectories of dynamical systems in various engineering applications. Stability analysis of periodic solutions lays a foundation for control design to achieve convergence to a prescribed orbit. Here we consider a class of perturbed nonlinear systems with fast and slow dynamics and develop a novel averaging method for analyzing the local exponential orbital stability of a periodic solution. A framework is then proposed for feedback control design to stabilize a natural oscillation of an uncertain nonlinear system using a synchronous adaptive oscillator. The idea is applied to linear mechanical systems and a design theory is established. In particular, we propose a controller based on the Andronov–Hopf oscillator with additional adaptation mechanisms for estimating the unknown natural frequency and damping parameters. We prove that, with sufficiently slow adaptation, the estimated parameters locally converge to their true values and entrainment to the natural oscillation is achieved as part of an orbitally stable limit cycle. Numerical examples demonstrate that adaptation and convergence can in fact be fast.