Using a structure preserving observer, a dynamic output controller is proposed for a class of port-Hamiltonian systems. The core of this method is based on the notion of contractive port-Hamiltonian systems. The proposed method utilizes an extended form of IDA-PBC (interconnection and damping assignment passivity-based control), a well-known controller design method for port-Hamiltonian systems and paves the way for using IDA-PBC in output control design of challenging control objectives, such as output tracking for underactuated mechanical systems. In the line of output control design, a useful separation principle for a class of port-Hamiltonian systems is achieved, which is valuable in the field of nonlinear systems. Some simulations on magnetic levitation and ball on wheel testbeds show the potency and applicability of the proposed method.
KEYWORDSoutput control, port-Hamiltonian systems, structure preserving observer, underactuated mechanical systems Int J Robust Nonlinear Control. 2019;29:867-881. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/rnc © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 867 868 YAGHMAEI AND YAZDANPANAHof system structure may obstruct controller design process for underactuated and nonminimum phase systems. The alternate framework is to use and respect nonlinearity in an appropriate way. The passivity-based methods are located in the core of this framework; see the work of Ortega et al 10 as an example for using passivity in output feedback control design. Concept of passivity is highly related to the concept of energy in physical systems. Therefore, an energy-based modeling can gain from the passivity-based methods. Port-Hamiltonian framework is a witness of this fact, which uses and extends the passivity-based methods. Port-Hamiltonian systems consist of a structure, called Dirac structure, which represents the route of energy exchange within the system and with the environment. Another ingredient of these systems is their resistive structure, which models the dynamic behavior of energy dissipative elements of the system. The main component of these systems is their energy function, which is called Hamiltonian. This transparency provides some powerful tools for controller design such as IDA-PBC (interconnection and damping assignment passivity-based control). [11][12][13] Recently, introducing the notion of contractive port-Hamiltonian systems in the work of Yaghmaei and Yazdanpanah 14 has paved the way for using IDA-PBC for tracking purposes. On the other hand, this notion can be used for observer design of port-Hamiltonian systems as shown in the work of Yaghmaei and Yazdanpanah. 15 The proposed observer of the aforementioned work 15 due to its interesting properties can be considered as a dual of IDA-PBC for observer design. One of these properties is that the dynamics of observer for a port-Hamiltonian system is again a port-Hamiltonian system, the fact, which causes the method to be called structure preserving. Simply, the contribution of this paper is to show that the combination of the works of Yaghmaei and...