Fault-tolerant control for a class of non-linear systems with dead-zone

Abstract

In this paper, a fault-tolerant control scheme is proposed for a class of single-input and single-output non-linear systems with the unknown time-varying system fault and the dead-zone. The non-linear state observer is designed for the non-linear system using differential mean value theorem, and the non-linear fault estimator that estimates the unknown time-varying system fault is developed. On the basis of the designed fault estimator, the observer-based fault-tolerant tracking control is then developed using the backstepping technique for non-linear systems with the dead-zone. The stability of the whole closed-loop system is rigorously proved via Lyapunov analysis and the satisfactory tracking control performance is guaranteed in the presence of the unknown time-varying system fault and the dead-zone. Numerical simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed backstepping fault-tolerant control scheme for non-linear systems.

Keywords:

• non-linear systems
• fault estimator
• state observer
• fault-tolerant control
• tracking control

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments and suggestions of the reviewers, which have improved the presentation.

Additional information

Funding

This work is partially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 61174102]; Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University of China [grant number NCET-11-0830]; Jiangsu Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number SBK20130033], [grant number SBK2011069]; Specialised Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education [grant number 20133218110013].

Notes on contributors

Mou Chen

Mou Chen was born in Sichuan, China, in 1975. He received his BSc degree in material science and engineering at Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Nanjing, China, in 1998, the MSc and the PhD degrees in automatical control engineering at Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Nanjing, China, in 2004. He is currently a full professor in College of Automation Engineering at Nanjing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics, China. He was an academic visitor at the Department of Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering, Loughborough University, UK, from November 2007 to February 2008. From June 2008 to September 2009, he was a research fellow in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the National University of Singapore. His research interests include non-linear system control, intelligent control, and flight control.

Bin Jiang

Bin Jiang was born in Jiangxi, China, in 1966. He obtained the PhD degree in automatic control from Northeastern University, Shenyang, China, in 1995. He had ever been a postdoctoral fellow or a research fellow in Singapore, France and USA, respectively. Now he is a professor and dean of College of Automation Engineering in Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China. He currently serves as associate editor or editorial board member for a number of journals such as IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology; International Journal of Systems Science; International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems; International Journal of Innovative Computing, Information and Control; International Journal of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science; Acta Automatica Sinica; Journal of Astronautics. He is a senior member of IEEE, a member of IFAC Technical Committee on Fault Detection, Supervision, and Safety of Technical Processes. His research interests include fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control and their applications.

William W. Guo

William Guo received his PhD degree from The University of Western Australia in 1999. From 1999–2001 as postdoctoral research fellow at Curtin University and Edith Cowan University in Australia, he has been a faculty member at Edith Cowan University (2002–2007), and then Central Queensland University (2007–). Professor Guo is currently the senior deputy dean of the School of Engineering and Technology at Central Queensland University. He was the Chair of ICT Programs Committee and regularly served as the acting dean of the School of Information and Commutation Technology at Central Queensland University in 2010–2012. He has significant experience in academic governance through his services in various committees and boards since 2009, including memberships of Faculty Education Committee (2009–2012), University Education Committee (2011–2012), University Academic Board (2013–), and Australian Council of Deans of ICT (2013–), and as an executive member of Australian Council of Professors and Heads of IS (2012–). He is the editor-in-chief of international journal Progress in Intelligent Computing and Applications (PICA), and guest editor for Journal of Networks, Journal of Software, Journal of Computers and Mathematical Problems in Engineering.