Observer-Based Decentralized Tracking Control with Preview Action for a Class of Nonlinear Interconnected Systems

In this paper, for the first time, the observer-based decentralized output tracking control problem with preview action for a class of interconnected nonlinear systems is converted into a regulation problem for augmented error subsystems composed of the tracking error dynamics, the difference equation of the state observer, and the available future reference trajectory dynamics associated with each individual subsystem. The developed innovative formulation of an observer-based decentralized preview tracking control scheme consists of the integral control action, the observer-based state feedback control action, and the preview action of the desired trajectory. The controller design feasibility conditions are formulated in terms of a linear matrix inequality (LMI) by using the Lyapunov function approach to ensure the existence of the suggested observer-based decentralized control strategy. Furthermore, both decentralized observer gain matrices and decentralized tracking controller gain matrices can be efficiently and simultaneously computed through a one-step LMI procedure. Stability analysis of the closed-loop augmented subsystem is carried out to illustrate that all tracking errors asymptotically converge toward zero. Finally, a numerical example is provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the suggested control approach.