Learning-Based Event-Triggered Tracking Control for Nonlinear Networked Control Systems With Unmatched Disturbance

This article concentrates on optimal tracking control for a class of nonlinear networked systems subjecting to limited network bandwidth and unmatched disturbance. Given the models of the control and reference systems, the considered optimal tracking control issue is initially formulated as a minimax optimization problem. Then, with the introduction of an event-triggered mechanism used for saving bandwidth, the formulated problem is transformed into solving an event-based Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs (HJI) equation by recurring to the Bellman optimality theory. Based on the HJI equation, we demonstrate that the stability of the concerned system in the sense of uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB) can be guaranteed with the envisioned optimal control and worst disturbance policies. Here, the disturbance policy can be varied periodically while the control policy can only be updated at event-triggering instants, which differs from the existed researches. Furthermore, we propose a reinforcement learning (RL)-based algorithm to handle the constructed HJI equation and thus settle the studied tracking control problem. The effectiveness of the algorithm is finally validated by both theoretical analysis and simulations.

Automated summary

This article focuses on the optimal tracking control problem for a class of nonlinear networked systems subject to limited network bandwidth and unmatched disturbance. By introducing an event-triggered mechanism and a reinforcement learning-based algorithm, it is demonstrated that the stability of the concerned system can be guaranteed, and the effectiveness of the algorithm is validated through theoretical analysis and simulations.