Event-Triggered Approximate Optimal Path-Following Control for Unmanned Surface Vehicles With State Constraints

Adaptive neural fault-tolerant tracking control for state-constrained systems subject to multiple power drift faults

The adaptive neural fault-tolerant control (FTC) for state-constrained systems containing novel sensor and actuator faults is investigated in this article. This work considers not only common actuator bias and gain faults, but also a novel type of fault caused by the power drift of system, namely the power drift faults. In addition, sensor faults in the form of unknown power drifts are also considered in this work. To compensate the impact of multiple power drift faults, a novel controller is established by introducing new auxiliary signals. The radial basis function neural networks (RBFNNs) are employed to resolve some uncertain functions and reduce the computational complexity. By combining the backstepping approach and barrier Lyapunov functions, a new adaptive FTC algorithm is developed. Based the presented controller, all signals in this system remain semi-globally bounded and the control error is guided to a small range near zero. Simultaneously, system constraints are not violated. At last, a simulation experiment is performed to confirm the validity and feasibility of the developed algorithm.

Reinforcement learning-based trajectory tracking optimal control of unmanned surface vehicles in narrow water areas

For unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) navigating in narrow water areas in the presence of unknown dynamics and ocean environmental disturbances, this paper develops a reinforcement learning (RL)-based optimal control scheme for the trajectory tracking of USVs under motion state constraints. A nonlinear map is introduced to transform constrained motion state errors into bounded transformed errors, and then the motion state-constrained trajectory tracking problem of USVs is equivalently transformed into a boundedness problem of the transformed errors. Furthermore, an actor-critic framework is developed by utilizing adaptive neural networks (NNs). Within the actor-critic framework, a novel weight update law is designed for the critic NN by combining the gradient descent approach and the concurrent learning technology, thereby relaxing the persistent excitation condition required for adaptive critic NN weight updates. Subsequently, a disturbance compensator is designed and combined with the actor-critic framework to learn the trajectory tracking optimal control law for USVs in the presence of unknown dynamics and disturbances. Finally, theoretical analyses prove that the developed control scheme guarantees the boundedness of all signals in the USV closed-loop trajectory tracking control system, and simulation results show that the developed control scheme can make USVs track the desired trajectory in narrow water areas while reducing the energy consumption by approximately 14.6 % compared with an existing controller.

Trajectory tracking control for ships with fixed-time prescribed performance considering input saturation and dead zone

To enable underactuated ships to achieve trajectory tracking under unknown external disturbances, model uncertainties, and actuator saturation and dead zone, a fixed-time prescribed performance trajectory tracking control method is designed. Firstly, the position tracking errors are constrained by designing the barrier Lyapunov function, and the prescribed performance function is set as the constraint boundary to address the issue of fixed constraint boundaries in traditional methods. Secondly, RBF neural networks are employed to estimate the model uncertainties, and adaptive laws are used to estimate the upper bound of the composite disturbances. Finally, the controller is designed by incorporating fixed-time convergence theory and further using fixed-time sliding mode surface in order to overcome the shortcomings of traditional control algorithms in terms of slow response and the use of finite-time convergence with respect to the initial state. Through Lyapunov stability analysis, it is proven that all signals in the closed-loop system are bounded, and the velocity tracking errors can achieve global fixed-time convergence. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed control scheme enables underactuated ship to achieve trajectory tracking even in the presence of input saturation and dead zone. Statistical results show that the performance indicators of the proposed controller are significantly smaller than those of the first group in the comparative experiments, with a shorter settling time. Moreover, compared to traditional saturation handling methods, the input curves of the proposed controller are smoother and more aligned with practical engineering requirements.

ADHDP-based robust self-learning 3D trajectory tracking control for underactuated UUVs

In this work, we propose a robust self-learning control scheme based on action-dependent heuristic dynamic programming (ADHDP) to tackle the 3D trajectory tracking control problem of underactuated uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) with uncertain dynamics and time-varying ocean disturbances. Initially, the radial basis function neural network is introduced to convert the compound uncertain element, comprising uncertain dynamics and time-varying ocean disturbances, into a linear parametric form with just one unknown parameter. Then, to improve the tracking performance of the UUVs trajectory tracking closed-loop control system, an actor-critic neural network structure based on ADHDP technology is introduced to adaptively adjust the weights of the action-critic network, optimizing the performance index function. Finally, an ADHDP-based robust self-learning control scheme is constructed, which makes the UUVs closed-loop system have good robustness and control performance. The theoretical analysis demonstrates that all signals in the UUVs trajectory tracking closed-loop control system are bounded. The simulation results for the UUVs validate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

Event-Triggered Learning-Based Fault Accommodation for a Class of Nonlinear Interconnected Systems

In this article, a distributed learning-based fault accommodation scheme is proposed for a class of nonlinear interconnected systems under event-triggered communication of control and measurement signals. Process faults occurring in the local dynamics and/or propagated from interconnected neighboring subsystems are considered. An event-triggered nominal control law is used for each subsystem before detecting any fault occurrence in its dynamics. After fault detection, the corresponding event-triggered fault accommodation law is utilized to reconfigure the nominal control law with a neural-network-based adaptive learning scheme employed to estimate an ideal fault-tolerant control function online. Under the asynchronous controller reconfiguration mechanism for each subsystem, the closed-loop stability of the interconnected systems in different operating modes with the proposed event-triggered learning-based fault accommodation scheme is rigorously analyzed with the explicit stabilization condition and state upper bound derived in terms of event-triggering parameters, and the Zeno behavior is shown to be excluded. An interconnected inverted pendulum system is used to illustrate the proposed fault accommodation scheme.

Neural Adaptive Intermittent Output Feedback Control for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles With Full-State Quantitative Designs

In this article, a neural adaptive intermittent output feedback control is investigated for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with full-state quantitative designs (FSQDs). To achieve the prespecified tracking performance determined by quantitative indices (e.g., overshoot, convergence time, steady-state accuracy, and maximum deviation) at both kinematic and kinetic levels, FSQDs are designed by transforming constrained AUV model into an unconstrained model via one-sided hyperbolic cosecant boundaries and nonlinear mapping functions. An intermittent sampling-based neural estimator (ISNE) is devised to reconstruct the matched and mismatched lumped disturbances as well as immeasurable velocity states of transformed AUV model, where only system outputs after intermittent sampling are required. Using the estimations of ISNE and the system outputs after triggering, an intermittent output feedback control law incorporated with hybrid threshold event-triggered mechanism (HTETM) is designed to achieve ultimately uniformly bounded (UUB) results. Simulation results are provided and analyzed to validate the effectiveness of the studied control strategy with application to an omnidirectional intelligent navigator (ODIN).

Neural Network-Based Adaptive Tracking Control for Denitrification and Aeration Processes With Time Delays

Wastewater treatment process (WWTP), consisting of a class of physical, chemical, and biological phenomena, is an important means to reduce environmental pollution and improve recycling efficiency of water resources. Considering characteristics of the complexities, uncertainties, nonlinearities, and multitime delays in WWTPs, an adaptive neural controller is presented to achieve the satisfying control performance for WWTPs. With the advantages of radial basis function neural networks (RBF NNs), the unknown dynamics in WWTPs are identified. Based on the mechanistic analysis, the time-varying delayed models of the denitrification and aeration processes are established. Based on the established delayed models, the Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (LKF) is used to compensate for the time-varying delays caused by the push-flow and recycle flow phenomenon. The barrier Lyapunov function (BLF) is used to ensure that the dissolved oxygen (DO) and nitrate concentrations are always kept within the specified ranges though the time-varying delays and disturbances exist. Using Lyapunov theorem, the stability of the closed-loop system is proven. Finally, the proposed control method is carried out on the benchmark simulation model 1 (BSM1) to verify the effectiveness and practicability.

Inverse Optimal Adaptive Neural Control for State-Constrained Nonlinear Systems

Optimizing a performance objective during control operation while also ensuring constraint satisfactions at all times is important in practical applications. Existing works on solving this problem usually require a complicated and time-consuming learning procedure by employing neural networks, and the results are only applicable for simple or time-invariant constraints. In this work, these restrictions are removed by a newly proposed adaptive neural inverse approach. In our approach, a new universal barrier function, which is able to handle various dynamic constraints in a unified manner, is proposed to transform the constrained system into an equivalent one with no constraint. Based on this transformation, a switched-type auxiliary controller and a modified criterion for inverse optimal stabilization are proposed to design an adaptive neural inverse optimal controller. It is proven that optimal performance is achieved with a computationally attractive learning mechanism, and all the constraints are never violated. Besides, improved transient performance is obtained in the sense that the bound of the tracking error could be explicitly designed by users. An illustrative example verifies the proposed methods.

Containment control of multiple unmanned surface vessels with NN control via reconfigurable hierarchical topology

This paper investigates the containment control of multiple unmanned surface vessels with nonlinear dynamics. To solve the leader-follower synchronization problem in a containment control system, a hierarchical control framework with a topology reconfiguration mechanism is proposed, and the process of containment control is converted into the tracking of a reference signal for each vessel on its respective target heading by means of the light-of-sight (LOS) guidance. In a control system, the neural networks (NNs) are adopted to consider the uncertainty. In the follower layer, a connectivity controller with a topology reconfiguration mechanism is embedded, to change the converging positions of followers so as to avoid collision within the system, and to maintain the system connectivity when the communication equality is poor. The effectiveness of the hierarchical control framework proposed in this paper is valid by simulation.

Input to state stabilization of networked systems under a specified packet dropout rate

This paper studies an input to state stabilizing control of networked control systems (NCSs) under a specified packet dropout rate. By considering packet dropouts in the NCSs, the transmission intervals are categorized by small delay intervals (packet-dropout-free case) and large delay intervals (packet-dropout case). Based on such classifications, we establish the concept of average packet dropout rate (ADR) to characterize the quality of service (QoS) for networks. Then, a switched systems approach is used to derive the ISS (input to state stability) conditions by exploiting Lyapunov theory and input delay approach for a specified ADR. In what follows, the controller design method for the NCSs under a specified ADR is reached by solving linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). According to the proposed results, a control and communication co-design method is developed such that one can design the controller gain according to QoS. Finally, simulations on self-steering control of autonomous vehicles are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed co-design method.

Most Effective Sampling Scheme for Prediction of Stationary Stochastic Processes

The problem of finding optimal sampling schemes has been resolved in two models. The novelty of this study lies in its cost efficiency, specifically, for the applied problems with expensive sampling process. In discussed models, we show that some observations counteract other ones in prediction mechanism. The autocovariance function of underlying process causes mentioned result. Our interesting result is that, although removing neutralizing observations convert sampling scheme to nonredundant case, it causes to worse prediction. A simulation study confirms this matter, too.

Neural-Network-Based Adaptive Fixed-Time Control for Nonlinear Multiagent Non-Affine Systems

In this research, the adaptive neural network consensus control problem is addressed for a class of non-affine multiagent systems (MASs) with actuator faults and stochastic disturbances. To overcome difficulties associated with actuator faults and uncertain functions of the designed MAS, a neural network fault-tolerant control scheme is developed. Moreover, an adaptive backstepping controller is developed to solve the non-affine appearance in multiagent stochastic non-affine systems using the mean value theorem. Being different from the existing control methods, the developed adaptive fixed-time control approach can ensure that the outputs of all followers track the reference signal synchronously in the fixed time, and all signals of the controlled system are semi-globally uniformly fixed-time stable. The simulation results confirm that the presented control strategy is effective in achieving control goals.