A Backstepping Control Framework for m-Triangular Systems

(Under review in IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology: “A Backstepping Control Framework for Networked Control of m-Triangular Systems”) m-Triangular Systems are dynamical physical systems which can be described by m triangular subsystem models. Many physical system models such as those which describe fixed-wing and quadrotor aircraft can be realized as m-Triangular Systems. However, many control engineers try to fit their dynamical model into a 1-Triangular System model. This is commonly seen in the backstepping control community in which they have developed pioneering adaptive control laws which can explicitly account for operating state constraints. We shall demonstrate that such control laws can even be implemented in a non-adaptive form while still addressing actuator limitations such as saturation. However, most importantly, by removing the adaptation component, a strictly-output passive input-output mapping can be realized. This important property is most applicable to the networked control community.