Superior robustness of power-sum activation functions in Zhang neural networks for time-varying quadratic programs perturbed with large implementation errors

Abstract

A special class of recurrent neural network termed Zhang neural network (ZNN) depicted in the implicit dynamics has recently been introduced for online solution of time-varying convex quadratic programming (QP) problems. Global exponential convergence of such a ZNN model is achieved theoretically in an error-free situation. This paper investigates the performance analysis of the perturbed ZNN model using a special type of activation functions (namely, power-sum activation functions) when solving the time-varying QP problems. Robustness analysis and simulation results demonstrate the superior characteristics of using power-sum activation functions in the context of large ZNN-implementation errors, compared with the case of using linear activation functions. Furthermore, the application to inverse kinematic control of a redundant robot arm also verifies the feasibility and effectiveness of the ZNN model for time-varying QP problems solving.