Nonlinear control design for linear differential inclusions via convex hull quadratic Lyapunov functions

This paper presents a nonlinear control design method for robust stabilization and robust performance of linear differential inclusions. A recently introduced non-quadratic Lyapunov function, the convex hull quadratic function, is used for the construction of nonlinear state feedback laws. Design objectives include stabilization with maximal convergence rate, disturbance rejection with minimal reachable set and least /spl Lscr//sub 2/ gain. Conditions for stabilization and performances are derived in terms of bilinear matrix inequalities (BMIs), which cover the existing linear matrix inequality (LMI) conditions as special cases. Optimization problems with BMI constraints are formulated and solved effectively by combining the path-following algorithm and the direct iterative algorithm. The design results are guaranteed to be at least as good as the existing results obtained from LMI conditions. In most examples, significant improvements on system performances have been achieved, which demonstrate the advantages of using nonlinear feedback control over linear feedback control for linear differential inclusions. It is also observed through numerical computation that nonlinear control strategies may help to reduce control effort substantially.