AutomaticaPub Date : 2025-09-30DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112626
Luke S. Baker , Sachin Shivakumar , Dieter Armbruster , Rodrigo B. Platte , Anatoly Zlotnik
{"title":"Linear system analysis and optimal control of natural gas dynamics in pipeline networks","authors":"Luke S. Baker , Sachin Shivakumar , Dieter Armbruster , Rodrigo B. Platte , Anatoly Zlotnik","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112626","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112626","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We design nonlinear and adaptive linear model-predictive control (MPC) techniques to minimize operational costs of compressor-actuated dynamics in natural gas pipeline networks. We establish stability of the local linear system and derive rigorous bounds on error between the nonlinear and linear system solutions. These bounds are used to quantify conditions under which the linear MPC can substitute the nonlinear MPC without significant loss of predictive accuracy. Furthermore, we prove and numerically verify that the computational cost of the linear MPC is orders of magnitude lower than that of solving the baseline optimal control problem. Numerical simulations are performed on nontrivial networks to demonstrate that the proposed MPC can effectively adapt to varying load conditions while maintaining nearly 95% optimality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 112626"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutomaticaPub Date : 2025-09-30DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112627
Ti-Chung Lee , Ying Zhang , Youfeng Su , Iven Mareels
{"title":"Convergence behaviors of nonlinear polar opinion dynamics in cooperative-antagonistic social networks","authors":"Ti-Chung Lee , Ying Zhang , Youfeng Su , Iven Mareels","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112627","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112627","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates two kinds of convergence behaviors of nonlinear polar opinion dynamics over cooperative-antagonistic social networks determined by signed graphs. The first problem studies the neutralization of opinions over strongly connected and structurally unbalanced signed graphs, while the second problem focuses on the containment convergence to external stubborn agents over signed graphs under a variety of connectivity constraints. It is observed that various connectivity conditions induce the common intrinsic property that the involved generalized opposing Laplacian matrix is nonsingular. A stability framework is proposed that addresses both the existence of potential limiting behaviors as well as their convergence properties. This involves an analysis of the positiveness of the (opinion) susceptibility functions. The domains of attraction associated with the convergent behaviors are characterized. The solvability of both problems is provided, and the attracting domains are characterized precisely. The results are applied to blended social networks composed of three specialized opinion models. Simulations and comparisons are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the paper’s results.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 112627"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Estimation of the minimum and maximum states of charge of lithium-ion battery packs: A hybrid approach","authors":"Mira Khalil , Romain Postoyan , Stéphane Raël , Dragan Nešić","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112630","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112630","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Monitoring the minimum and maximum states of charge (SOC) in lithium-ion battery packs is key to ensuring safe and reliable long-term operation. The challenge is that these SOCs cannot be directly measured and their corresponding cells within the pack may change with time. This paper proposes a novel hybrid scheme that estimates the minimum and maximum SOCs within a battery pack given by the series interconnection of equivalent circuit models. The estimation scheme relies on a mechanism that determines online two cells, which are candidates for having the minimum and maximum SOCs. The dimension of the hybrid estimator is independent of the number of cells, which makes it particularly attractive for large battery packs. Moreover, the estimator is endowed with robust, global convergence guarantees despite disturbances and measurement noise. Furthermore, Zeno behavior is ruled out as any solution to the considered system is shown to exhibit an average dwell-time. Numerical simulations illustrate the efficiency in terms of accuracy and computational time of the proposed estimator.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 112630"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutomaticaPub Date : 2025-09-29DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112635
Kai Zhang, Bin Zhou
{"title":"Stabilization of feedforward nonlinear time-delay systems with vanishing actuator effectiveness by linear time-varying feedback","authors":"Kai Zhang, Bin Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112635","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112635","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper considers the problem of global stabilization for a class of feedforward nonlinear systems in the presence of state delay, uncertain parameters, and vanishing actuator effectiveness. By assuming that the time-delay nonlinear function is unknown but satisfies a linear growth condition with unknown parameters, a state feedback controller incorporating two time-varying parameters is designed. One parameter focuses on compensating for the vanishing actuator effectiveness, while the other addresses uncertain nonlinear terms. The feature of the approach is that the designed controller is linear, and its implementation do not necessitate online computation, thereby significantly conserving computational resources. An example is included to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 112635"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutomaticaPub Date : 2025-09-29DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112633
Jian Wang , Denis Efimov , Alexander Aleksandrov
{"title":"Integral version of Lyapunov–Razumikhin conditions","authors":"Jian Wang , Denis Efimov , Alexander Aleksandrov","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112633","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112633","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>For a retarded nonlinear system, this paper proposes a modification of the Lyapunov–Razumikhin method introducing a distributed integral of Lyapunov function for comparison with its current value instead of the maximum over delayed interval. The developed conditions are illustrated on different analysis problems presenting integral Halanay-type inequalities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 112633"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutomaticaPub Date : 2025-09-29DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112634
Xiaoyu Wang , Yi Dong , Yiguang Hong , Karl Henrik Johansson
{"title":"Distributed safety-critical control of nonlinear multi-agent systems","authors":"Xiaoyu Wang , Yi Dong , Yiguang Hong , Karl Henrik Johansson","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112634","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112634","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper considers the safety-critical control problem for nonlinear second-order multi-agent systems with constraints of each agent and inter-agent ones. We overcome the challenge of the time-varying and position-dependent communication network with limited sensing range by introducing a truncated function for the smooth addition and deletion of links in the edge set, and design a distributed and locally Lipschitz-continuous safety-critical control law, composed of a nominal controller for the objectives such as consensus, formation, and position swapping, etc., and a safety controller, which only takes effect when some neighboring agent enters the custom-designed boundary set. Meanwhile, to rigorously verify the safety of the whole multi-agent system, a continuously differentiable control barrier function is proposed under a relaxed feasibility condition in the sense that it is imposed on each subsystem and only needed in the boundary area.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 112634"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Finite and fixed-time feedback-based continuous-time optimization","authors":"Baby Diana , Sunidhi Pandey , Shyam Kamal , Thach Ngoc Dinh","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112569","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112569","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article presents a framework for finite and fixed-time control, using feedback-based optimization to drive a system toward its optimal operating point. Unlike traditional methods that rely on predefined set points, this approach employs endogenous control inputs derived through numerical optimization while adhering to system constraints. The controller’s dynamics are modeled as a convergent gradient flow, allowing the system to autonomously achieve its optimum without external references. The proposed control architecture guarantees finite- and fixed-time stability, with a Lyapunov-based analysis determining permissible perturbation bounds to ensure robust performance. The effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is demonstrated through simulations on a coupled-tank and a buck converter systems, successfully achieving the desired steady-state operation with the designed control approach.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 112569"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145158529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutomaticaPub Date : 2025-09-26DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112606
Yoshio Ebihara , Noboru Sebe , Hayato Waki , Dimitri Peaucelle , Sophie Tarbouriech , Victor Magron , Tomomichi Hagiwara
{"title":"Induced norm analysis of linear systems for nonnegative input signals","authors":"Yoshio Ebihara , Noboru Sebe , Hayato Waki , Dimitri Peaucelle , Sophie Tarbouriech , Victor Magron , Tomomichi Hagiwara","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112606","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112606","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper is concerned with the analysis of the <span><math><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>L</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>p</mi></mrow></msub><mspace></mspace><mrow><mo>(</mo><mi>p</mi><mo>∈</mo><mrow><mo>[</mo><mn>1</mn><mo>,</mo><mi>∞</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow><mo>,</mo><mspace></mspace><mi>p</mi><mo>=</mo><mi>∞</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow></math></span> induced norms of continuous-time linear systems where input signals are restricted to be nonnegative. This norm is referred to as the <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>L</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo>+</mo></mrow></msub></math></span> induced norm in this paper. It has been shown recently that the <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>L</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>+</mo></mrow></msub></math></span> induced norm is effective for the stability analysis of nonlinear feedback systems where the nonlinearity returns only nonnegative signals. However, the exact computation of the <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>L</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>+</mo></mrow></msub></math></span> induced norm is essentially difficult. To get around this difficulty, in the first part of this paper, we provide a copositive-programming-based method for the upper bound computation by capturing the nonnegativity of the input signals by copositive multipliers. In the second part, we consider how far the <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>L</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>+</mo></mrow></msub></math></span> induced norm can be smaller than the standard <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>L</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> induced norm, and derive the uniform infimum on the ratio of the <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>L</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>+</mo></mrow></msub></math></span> induced norm to the <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>L</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> induced norm over all linear systems including infinite-dimensional ones. Then, for each linear system, we finally derive a computation method of the lower bounds of the <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>L</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn><mo>+</mo></mrow></msub></math></span> induced norm that are larger than (or equal to) the value determined by the uniform infimum. The effectiveness of the upper/lower bound computation methods is illustrated by numerical examples.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 112606"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145158528","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutomaticaPub Date : 2025-09-26DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112629
Panpan Zhou , Sirui Li , Benyun Zhao , Bo Wahlberg , Xiaoming Hu
{"title":"Nature-inspired dynamic control for pursuit-evasion of robots","authors":"Panpan Zhou , Sirui Li , Benyun Zhao , Bo Wahlberg , Xiaoming Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112629","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112629","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The pursuit-evasion problem is widespread in nature, engineering, and societal applications. It is commonly observed in nature that predators often exhibit faster speeds than their prey but have less agile maneuverability. Over millions of years of evolution, animals have developed effective and efficient strategies for pursuit and evasion. In this paper, we provide a dynamic framework for the pursuit-evasion problem of unicycle systems, drawing inspiration from nature. First, we address the scenario with one pursuer and one evader by proposing an Alert-Turn control strategy, which consists of two efficient ingredients: a sudden turning maneuver and an alert condition for starting and maintaining the maneuver. We present and analyze the escape and capture results at two levels: a lower level of a single run and a higher level with respect to parameters’ changes. In addition, we provide a theorem with sufficient conditions for capture. The Alert-Turn strategy is then extended to more complex scenarios involving multiple pursuers and evaders by integrating aggregation control laws and a target-changing mechanism. By adjusting a ‘selfish parameter’, the aggregation control commands produce various escape patterns of evaders: cooperative mode, selfish mode, and their combinations. The influence of the selfish parameter is quantified, and the target-changing mechanism is explored from a statistical perspective. Our findings align closely with observations in nature. Finally, the proposed strategies are validated through numerical simulations that replicate some chasing behaviors of animals in nature.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 112629"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145158533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
AutomaticaPub Date : 2025-09-26DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112632
Shiyu Zhou , Dong Sun , Gang Feng
{"title":"Distributed adaptive fixed-time formation tracking for heterogeneous multi-agent systems","authors":"Shiyu Zhou , Dong Sun , Gang Feng","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112632","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112632","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article investigates the problem of fixed-time time-varying formation tracking control (FTC) for heterogeneous linear multiagent systems (MASs) under the directed communication graph. It is assumed that the Laplacian matrix associated with the communication graph is unavailable and that the system matrices of the leader are only available to its neighboring followers. This differs from many existing works on fixed-time FTC problems where the communication graphs are typically undirected and protocol designs often rely on certain global information. A novel distributed observer is first put forward to estimate both the state and system matrices of the leader in fixed time. Then, an adaptive scheme is developed to solve the time-varying regulator equations resulting from the estimated leader system matrices in fixed time. Based on the proposed observer and the adaptive solutions to the regulator equations, a distributed adaptive fixed-time FTC protocol is further proposed via coordinate transformation techniques. It is shown that our proposed controllers do not require the input matrices of the followers to be of full row rank. It is also shown that the concerned fixed-time FTC problem can be solved with the proposed fixed-time FTC strategy in a distributed manner. Our results can be directly applied to solve both the adaptive fixed-time cooperative output regulation problem and the leader-following consensus problems of MASs under the directed graph. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed fixed-time FTC strategy is demonstrated through a numerical example.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 112632"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145158537","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}