System-Theory for Robotics

Systems and Control Master Program

2014 -2015

Adrian Burlacu,
Associate Professor at Dept. of Automatic Control and
Applied Informatics, Technical University of Iasi, Romania

System-Theory for Robotics

Part I System Analysis
State-space representation of continuous- and discretetime systems. Transformations of system models
Linearization of nonlinear mathematical models
Solving continuous- and
equations. Transfer matrix

discrete-time

state-space

System-Theory for Robotics

Lyapunov stability analysis of continuous- and discretetime systems. Stability of a discrete-time system
obtained by discretizing a continuous-time system
Controllability and observability of linear dynamical
systems. Effects of the discretization

System-Theory for Robotics

System-Theory for Robotics

System-Theory for Robotics

Stability of linear time-invariant systems
The total response of a linear system is the sum of the natural response and the
forced response. Natural response describes the way the system dissipates or acquires
energy. The form or nature of this response is dependent only on the system, not the input.
On the other hand, the form or nature of the forced response is dependent on the input.

For a control system to be useful, the natural response must (1) eventually approach zero,
thus leaving only the forced response, or (2) oscillate. In some systems, however, the
natural response grows without bound rather than diminish to zero or oscillate.
Eventually, the natural response is so much greater than the forced response that the
system is no longer controlled. This condition, called instability, could lead to selfdestruction of the physical device if limit stops are not part of the design.

System-Theory for Robotics

Stability of linear time-invariant systems
Using the natural response:
A linear, time-invariant system is stable if the natural response approaches zero as time
approaches infinity.
A linear, time-invariant system is unstable if the natural response grows without bound as
time approaches infinity.
A linear, time-invariant system is marginally stable if the natural response neither decays
nor grows but remains constant or oscillates as time approaches infinity.
Using the total response (BIBO):

A system is stable if every bounded input yields a bounded output.

A system is unstable if any bounded input yields an unbounded output

System-Theory for Robotics

Stability of linear time-invariant systems
The poles of a transfer function are
- the values of the Laplace transform variable, s, that cause the transfer function to
become infinite
or
- any roots of the denominator of the transfer function that are common to roots of the
numerator.
The zeros of a transfer function are
-the values of the Laplace transform variable, s, that cause the transfer function to become
zero,
or
- any roots of the numerator of the transfer function that are common to roots of the
denominator.

System-Theory for Robotics

Stability of linear time-invariant systems
Poles in the left half-plane generate either pure exponential decay or damped sinusoidal
natural responses. These natural responses decay to zero as time approaches infinity. Thus,
if the closed-loop system poles are in the left half of the plane and hence have a negative
real part, the system is stable. That is, stable systems have closed-loop transfer functions
with poles only in the left half-plane.
Poles in the right half-plane yield either pure exponentially increasing or exponentially
increasing sinusoidal natural responses. These natural responses approach infinity as time
approaches infinity. Thus, if the closed-loop system poles are in the right half of the s-plane
and hence have a positive real part, the system is unstable.

System-Theory for Robotics

Stability of linear time-invariant systems

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System-Theory for Robotics

Liapunov Stability Analysis

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Liapunov Stability Analysis

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System-Theory for Robotics

Liapunov Stability Analysis

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Liapunov Stability Analysis

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System-Theory for Robotics

Liapunov Stability Analysis

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System-Theory for Robotics

Liapunov Stability Analysis

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System-Theory for Robotics

A choice for the Liapunov function

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System-Theory for Robotics

Lyapunov stability analysis of continuous- and discretetime systems. Stability of a discrete-time system
obtained by discretizing a continuous-time system
Controllability and observability of linear dynamical
systems. Effects of the discretization

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System-Theory for Robotics

The concepts of controllability and observability were introduced by Kalman. They play
an important role in the design of control systems in state space. In fact, the conditions
of controllability and observability may govern the existence of a complete solution to
the control system design problem. The solution to this problem may not exist if the
system considered is not controllable.
Although most physical systems are controllable and observable, corresponding
mathematical models may not possess the property of controllability and observability.
Then it is necessary to know the conditions under which a system is controllable and
observable
If an input to a system can be found that takes every state variable from a desired initial
state to a desired final state, the system is said to be controllable; otherwise, the system
is uncontrollable.
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System-Theory for Robotics

Controllability
If an input to a system can be found that takes every state variable from a desired initial
state to a desired final state, the system is said to be controllable; otherwise, the system
is uncontrollable.
Complete State Controllability of Continuous-Time Systems

The system is said to be state controllable at t=t0 if it is possible to construct an

unconstrained control signal that will transfer an initial state to any final state in a
finite time interval.
If every state is controllable, then the system is said to be completely state
controllable.
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System-Theory for Robotics

Controllability

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System-Theory for Robotics

Controllability
If the system is completely state controllable,
then, given any initial state x(0)

This requires that the rank of

is n

The result just obtained can be extended to the case where the control vector u is
r-dimensional. If the system is described by
,, the matrix
is commonly called the controllability matrix.

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System-Theory for Robotics

Example

the system is not completely state controllable

the system is completely state controllable

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System-Theory for Robotics

Controllability
Condition for Complete State Controllability in the s Plane
The condition for complete state controllability can be stated in terms of transfer
functions or transfer matrices. It can be proved that a necessary and sufficient
condition for complete state controllability is that no cancellation occur in the transfer
function or transfer matrix. If cancellation occurs, the system cannot be controlled in
the direction of the canceled mode.

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System-Theory for Robotics

Controllability
Output Controllability
In the practical design of a control system, we may want to control the output rather
than the state of the system. Complete state controllability is neither necessary nor
sufficient for controlling the output of the system. For this reason, it is desirable to
define separately complete output controllability.
The system is said to be completely output controllable if it is possible
to construct an unconstrained control vector u(t) that will transfer any
given initial output y(t0) to any final output y(t1) in a finite time
interval t0 < t < t1 .
is completely output controllable if and only if the mx (n+1)r matrix is of rank m
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System-Theory for Robotics

Example

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System-Theory for Robotics

Example

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System-Theory for Robotics

Observability
The ability to control all of the state variables is a requirement for the design of a
controller. State-variable feedback gains cannot be designed if any state variable is
uncontrollable. Uncontrollability can be viewed best with diagonalized systems. The
signal-flow graph showed clearly that the uncontrollable state variable was not
connected to the control signal of the system.
A similar concept governs our ability to create a design for an observer. Specifically, we
are using the output of a system to deduce the state variables. If any state variable has
no effect upon the output, then we cannot evaluate this state variable by observing the
output.

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System-Theory for Robotics

Observability

The system is said to be completely observable if every state x(t0) can be determined from
the observation of y(t) over a finite time interval, The system is, therefore, completely
observable if every transition of the state eventually affects every element of the output
vector.
The concept of observability is useful in solving the problem of reconstructing
unmeasurable state variables from measurable variables in the minimum possible length
of time.
For linear, time-invariant systems, without loss of generality, we can assume that t0=0.
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System-Theory for Robotics

Observability

Since the matrices A, B, C, and D are known and u(t) is

also known, the last two terms on the right-hand side of
this last equation are known quantities. Therefore, they
may be subtracted from the observed value of y(t). Hence,
for investigating a necessary and sufficient condition for
complete observability, it suffices to consider the system
described by

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System-Theory for Robotics

Observability

If the system is completely observable the rank of the nmxn matrix

is n

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System-Theory for Robotics

Observability
Example

the system is completely state controllable

C
= 1 0

1 1

CA

the system is completely output controllable

the system is completely observable

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