Controller Design For Nonlinear Systems Based on Simultaneous Stabilization Theory and Describing Function Models

Abstract

A new systematic and algebraic linear control system design procedure for use with highly nonlinear plants is developed. This procedure is based on simultaneous stabilization theory and sinusoidal-input describing function models of the nonlinear plant, and is presently applicable to single-input single-output, time-invariant, deterministic, stable, and continuous-time systems which are representable in standard state-variable differential equation form. Three software utilities to implement the controller design procedure are also outlined. This method and the associated software is applied to a position control problem of the sort encountered in robotics, and the results are compared with those previously obtained using both linear and nonlinear PID control.