Adaptive Neural Network Control of an Uncertain Nuclear Refueling Machine With Input Backlash and Asymmetric Output Constraint

This paper studies the control problem of an uncertain nuclear refueling machine (RM) system in the presence of uncertainty, external disturbance, input backlash, and asymmetric output constraint. Taking into account the effects of external disturbance and input backlash, the RM system with fuel rod is modeled as a coupling partial differential equation-ordinary differential equation (PDE-ODE). Using the backstepping method, an adaptive neural network control scheme is designed to drive the RM and bridge to the desired positions and simultaneously reduce the vibration of the fuel rod. A novel asymmetric tangent-type barrier Lyapunov function (Tan-BLF) is constructed to restrict the position tracking error into the given range. The formulation of backlash nonlinearity is transformed into the expected input and nonlinear error. Then the combination of input backlash error and boundary disturbance is defined as a disturbance-like item. Applying the robust control strategy and adaptive technique, two auxiliary input signals are proposed to offset the impact of the disturbance-like item. The adaptive neural network (NN) is employed to compensate for the system uncertainty. The practical stability of the RM system with the proposed control is demonstrated via the theoretical Lyapunov analysis. Simulation verifies the performance of the designed control scheme.