AutomaticaPub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-26DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112808
Hai-Tao Zhang , Jiayu Zou , Xingjian Liu
{"title":"Cooperative optimal surface coverage control of multi-agent systems in non-convex surface environments","authors":"Hai-Tao Zhang , Jiayu Zou , Xingjian Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112808","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112808","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>It has long been a challenging task for optimal coverage control of multi-agent systems (MASs) in non-convex surface environments often encountered in real coordinated detection applications. To this end, this paper develops a surface cooperative control scheme for MASs to perform coverage operations. First, a coverage surface partition protocol is devised to divide a non-convex surface into multiple sectorial sub-surfaces. Accordingly, a performance index in surface coverage is established considering the curvature spatial evolution of the surface environments. Thereby, a random-initial-point algorithm is designed to minimize the performance index, and a surface-constrained optimal control law is developed to deploy MASs at niche positions. Significantly, sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the asymptotical stability of the present scheme. Finally, numerical simulations are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the present surface coverage design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 112808"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145841799","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-22DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112783
Linghuan Kong , Wei He , Carlos Silvestre
{"title":"A two-layer adaptive control framework for prescribed performance in unmanned aerial vehicles","authors":"Linghuan Kong , Wei He , Carlos Silvestre","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112783","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112783","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper proposes a novel two-layer prescribed performance control strategy for underactuated unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with unknown mass. Unlike conventional approaches that heavily rely on barrier functions—often producing large control signals and potential instability due to actuator limitations—the proposed method introduces soft and hard performance bounds on position and velocity errors. A smooth switching mechanism selectively activates the barrier function, thereby reducing its usage and enhancing system robustness. To accommodate these bounds, a new integral-multiplicative barrier-like (IMBL) Lyapunov function is developed to determine the desired thrust. Second-order linear systems are employed as low-pass filters in the backstepping design, lowering computational complexity and improving robustness against disturbances. An adaptive law is integrated into the framework for real-time mass estimation, and torque inputs are derived accordingly. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the method and validate the theoretical analysis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 112783"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145841800","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-22DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112796
Fatemeh Fardno , S. Rasoul Etesami
{"title":"A game-theoretic framework for distributed load balancing: Static and dynamic game models","authors":"Fatemeh Fardno , S. Rasoul Etesami","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112796","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112796","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Motivated by applications in job scheduling, queuing networks, and load balancing in cyber–physical systems, we develop and analyze a game-theoretic framework to balance the load among servers in static and dynamic settings. In these applications, jobs/tasks are held by selfish entities that do not want to coordinate with each other, yet the goal is to balance the load among servers in a distributed manner. First, we provide a static game formulation in which each player holds a job with a specific processing requirement and wants to schedule it fractionally among a set of heterogeneous servers to minimize its average processing time. We show that this static game is a potential game with a pure Nash equilibrium (NE). In particular, the best-response dynamics converge to such an NE after <span><math><mi>n</mi></math></span> iterations, where <span><math><mi>n</mi></math></span> is the number of players. Additionally, we bound the price of anarchy (PoA) of the static game in terms of game parameters. We then extend our results to a dynamic game setting, where jobs arrive and get processed, and players observe the load on the servers to decide how to schedule their jobs. In this setting, we show that if the players update their strategies using dynamic best-response, the system eventually becomes fully load-balanced and the players’ strategies converge to the pure NE of the static game. In particular, we show that the convergence time scales only polynomially with respect to the game parameters. Finally, we provide numerical results to evaluate the performance of our proposed algorithms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 112796"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145841282","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-23DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112780
Mohammed M.J. Alyaseen, Nikolay Atanasov, Jorge Cortes
{"title":"Safety-critical control of discontinuous systems with nonsmooth safe sets","authors":"Mohammed M.J. Alyaseen, Nikolay Atanasov, Jorge Cortes","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112780","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112780","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper studies the design of controllers for discontinuous dynamics that ensure the safety of non-smooth sets. The safe set is represented by arbitrarily nested unions and intersections of 0-superlevel sets of differentiable functions. We show that the satisfaction of the point-wise active safety constraints only does not necessarily imply safety. This rules out the standard techniques developed for safety of continuous dynamics. This motivates the introduction of the notion of transition functions, which allow us to incorporate even the inactive safety constraints without falling into unnecessary conservatism. These functions allow system trajectories to leave a component of the nonsmooth safe set to transition to a different one. The resulting controller is then defined as the solution to a convex optimization problem, which we show is feasible and continuous wherever the system dynamics is continuous. We illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design approach in a multi-agent coverage control problem.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 112780"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145822801","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-16DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112757
Shidong Zhai , Ji Xiang Cao , Wei Zhu
{"title":"Exploring the complex relationship between virus transmission and opinion evolution: An individual-based approach","authors":"Shidong Zhai , Ji Xiang Cao , Wei Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112757","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112757","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The paper delves into the intricate interplay between individual opinions on viruses and the transmission of infectious diseases. A new network model is proposed, integrating epidemic dynamics with the evolution of opinions, taking into account factors such as persuasion sensitivity, competitive interactions, and public vigilance. By introducing an opinion-dependent reproduction number, a comprehensive analysis of the model’s dynamics is conducted. The paper thoroughly investigates various equilibrium states and their stability, providing valuable insights into how opinions can affect the disease transmission process and potential containment measures. Furthermore, the paper outlines strategies for epidemic mitigation, including adjusting transmission dynamics and influencing public sentiment, offering practical guidance for authorities seeking to manage outbreaks effectively. Finally, the paper presents numerical simulations and validation using real data.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 112757"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145799646","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-17DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112747
Pedro Henrique Silva Coutinho , Iury Bessa , Victor Hugo Pereira Rodrigues , Tiago Roux Oliveira
{"title":"Systematic LMI approaches to design multivariable sliding mode controllers for uncertain systems","authors":"Pedro Henrique Silva Coutinho , Iury Bessa , Victor Hugo Pereira Rodrigues , Tiago Roux Oliveira","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112747","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112747","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper addresses sliding mode control for uncertain multivariable systems. In this sense, we present systematic procedures to design variable structure controllers (VSCs) and unit-vector controllers (UVCs) for stabilization and tracking in finite time. Although these controller classes are known to be effective, the literature lacks systematic design methods. By using appropriate representations of the closed-loop system, we derive sufficient conditions that enable the systematic design of robust sliding mode controllers based on semidefinite programming with linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) constraints. The proposed approach ensures that the origin of the closed-loop system is finite-time stable. Additionally, since the reaching time depends on initial conditions and the decay rate, the design approach uses convex optimization problems to minimize the reaching time for a given set of initial conditions. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed techniques.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 112747"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145799648","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-29DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112811
Luca Consolini, Mattia Laurini, Marco Locatelli
{"title":"A convex reformulation for speed planning of a vehicle under the travel time and energy consumption objectives","authors":"Luca Consolini, Mattia Laurini, Marco Locatelli","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112811","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112811","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this paper we address the speed planning problem for a vehicle along a predefined path. A weighted sum of two conflicting objectives, energy consumption and travel time, is minimized. After deriving a non-convex mathematical model of the problem, we prove that the feasible region of this problem is a lattice. Moreover, we introduce a feasibility-based bound-tightening technique which allows us to derive the minimum and maximum element of the lattice, or establish that the feasible region is empty. We prove the exactness of a convex relaxation of the non-convex problem, obtained by replacing all constraints with the lower and upper bounds for the variables corresponding to the minimum and maximum elements of the lattice, respectively. After proving some properties of optimal solutions of the convex relaxation, we exploit them to develop a dynamic programming approach returning an approximate solution to the convex relaxation, and with time complexity <span><math><mrow><mi>O</mi><mrow><mo>(</mo><msup><mrow><mi>n</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msup><mo>)</mo></mrow></mrow></math></span>, where <span><math><mi>n</mi></math></span> is the number of points into which the continuous path is discretized.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 112811"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145884851","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-19DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112746
Kaikai Zheng , Dawei Shi , Sandra Hirche , Yang Shi
{"title":"Information-triggered learning with application to learning-based predictive control","authors":"Kaikai Zheng , Dawei Shi , Sandra Hirche , Yang Shi","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112746","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112746","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Learning-based control has attracted significant attention in recent years, especially for plants that are difficult to model based on first-principles. A key issue in learning-based control is how to make efficient use of data as the abundance of data becomes overwhelming. To address this issue, this work proposes an information-triggered learning framework and a corresponding learning-based controller design approach with guaranteed stability. Specifically, we consider a linear time-invariant system with unknown dynamics. A set-membership approach is introduced to learn a parametric uncertainty set for the unknown dynamics. Then, a data selection mechanism is proposed by evaluating the incremental information in a data sample, where the incremental information is quantified by its effects on shrinking the parametric uncertainty set. Next, after introducing a stability criterion using the set-membership estimate of the system dynamics, a robust learning-based predictive controller (LPC) is designed by minimizing a worst-case cost function. The closed-loop stability of the LPC equipped with the information-triggered learning protocol is discussed within a high-probability framework. Finally, comparative numerical experiments are performed to verify the validity of the proposed approach.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 112746"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145799193","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2026-01-14DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2026.112834
Ling Ma , Nicolas Vanspranghe , Daniele Astolfi , Vincent Andrieu , Mathieu Bajodek , Xuyang Lou
{"title":"Nested saturation proportional–derivative control for conservative PDE–ODE interconnections: The gantry crane example","authors":"Ling Ma , Nicolas Vanspranghe , Daniele Astolfi , Vincent Andrieu , Mathieu Bajodek , Xuyang Lou","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2026.112834","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2026.112834","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper addresses the feedback stabilization problem for a gantry crane system with input constraints. Such a system is described by a wave equation interconnected at the boundary conditions with a double integrator, which represents the top cart’s position and its speed. We propose a simple nested-saturation proportional derivative feedback which ensures that the control inputs remain within certain given limits. Global asymptotic stability of the origin of the closed-loop system is established. To this end, a new weak Lyapunov functional and a new methodology to study pre-compactness of solutions are introduced. Numerical simulations are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control method.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 112834"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145962443","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 : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-12-19DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112795
Alexander Yu. Pogromsky , Alexey S. Matveev
{"title":"Remote robust state estimation for nonlinear systems","authors":"Alexander Yu. Pogromsky , Alexey S. Matveev","doi":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112795","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.automatica.2025.112795","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper addresses the problem of robust remote state estimation for uncertain nonlinear discrete-time systems when sensor data are transmitted through a digital communication channel of finite bit-rate capacity. The goal is to determine the minimal channel rate required to guarantee a prescribed estimation accuracy in the presence of bounded model uncertainty. We derive an explicit, tractable lower bound on the channel bit rate that ensures this accuracy for any admissible uncertainty level. The bound highlights the fundamental role of the accuracy-to-uncertainty ratio in remote estimation. The analysis relies on a quadratic dissipation inequality describing system uncertainty within the framework of incremental input-to-state stability, leading to a constructive Lyapunov-based characterization. The proposed conditions admit a closed-form analytical expression for a class of systems, including the uncertain Lozi map, which serves as an illustrative example.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55413,"journal":{"name":"Automatica","volume":"185 ","pages":"Article 112795"},"PeriodicalIF":5.9,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145784445","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}