Adaptive \(\lambda\)-tracking for nonlinear higher relative degree systems (Q2486097)

The paper proposes a control strategy based on an adaptive lambda-controller with full-order observer, which guarantees to achieve lambda-tracking for a large class of non-linear systems and reference signals. The controller order is equal to the relative degree, regardless of the system dimension. The observer estimates the filtered derivatives of the output and the feedback constructs a linear combination of the observer states. The first part of the paper presents the system class, the control objectives and the structure of the controller. The second part formulates the main result and gives a rigorous proof, under some assumptions referring to the system dynamics. It is shown that the tracking error converges to the lambda-strip asymptotically, the adaptation converges, no finite escape time can occur and all states remain bounded. The paper also discusses possible extensions of the main result.