Control Lyapunov Function Design by Cancelling Input Singularity

Abstract

If one can find a control Lyapunov function (CLF) for a given nonlinear system, the control input stabilizing the system can be easily obtained. To find a CLF, the time derivative of an energy function should be negative definite. This procedure frequently requires a control input which is a rational function or includes an inverse function. The control input is not defined on the specific state-space where the denominator of the rational function is equal to 0 or the inverse function does not exist. In this region with singularities, the trajectory of the control system cannot be generated, which is one of the most important reasons why it is hard to make the origin of a nonlinear system be globally asymptotically stable. In this paper, we propose a smooth control law ensuring the globally asymptotic stability by means of cancelling the singularity in the control input.