Analysis and control of nonlinear systems. A flatness-based approach (Q1019054)

This book is focused mainly on the analysis of so-called nonlinear flat systems. Loosely speaking a nonlinear system is said to be flat when there is a (flat) output which exhibits the following properties: this output and its derivatives can be used to express all the system variables. For a flat system, the trajectories can be mapped in a one-to-one correspondence onto geometrical curves which are not necessarily defined by differential equations. It follows that if one can obtain a numerical approximation for these flat outputs, one will be able to define the state parameter of the system, in a straightforward way, by using numerical techniques. The mathematical framework of this approach is (elementary) differential geometry. The book comprises two parts: the first part which displays the essential background on dimensional geometry and the theory of flat systems, and the second part which provides some applications in the real world. The book is published in the mathematical engineering series, and as a consequence the differential geometry content is presented in a very accessible applied mathematics way.