Tracking Control by the Newton-Raphson Method with Output Prediction and Controller Speedup

Abstract: This paper presents a control technique for output tracking of reference signals in continuous-time dynamical systems. The technique is comprised of the following three elements: (i) output prediction which has to track the reference signal, (ii) a controller based on an integrator with variable gain, and (iii) a speedup of the control action for enhancing the tracker's accuracy and, in some cases, guaranteeing stability of the closed-loop system. The technique is suitable for linear and nonlinear systems, implementable by simple algorithms, can track reference points as well as time-dependent reference signals, and may have large, even global domains of attraction. The derived theoretical results include convergence of the tracking controller and error analysis, and are supported by illustrative simulation and laboratory experiments.