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Published in IET Control Theory and Applications

Received on 3rd February 2009
Revised on 15th June 2009
doi: 10.1049/iet-cta.2009.0060

ISSN 1751-8644

Contraction theory-based recursive

design of stabilising controller for a
class of non-linear systems
B.B. Sharma I.N. Kar
Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
E-mail: bbs.iit@gmail.com

Abstract: The study addresses stabilisation problem of a class of non-linear systems using contraction principle.
For this purpose, contraction-based systematic design of control function is presented. Generally, Lyapunov
stability-based backstepping technique is widely used to design controllers for strict feedback class of non-
linear systems in a recursive manner. However, the present study highlights the usage of contraction-based
concepts for stability analysis and presents a systematic procedure to select a single controller for
stabilisation of systems having dynamics in strict feedback form. The approach establishes exponential
stability of system states. The procedure helps in identifying coordinate transformation to establish
contracting nature of the given system. Design of output tracking controller for single-link manipulator
system with actuator dynamics is considered to highlight the procedure. The proposed methodology is
extended to address synchronisation problem of non-linear systems. As a particular case, synchronisation
problem of chaotic systems belonging to the addressed class of systems is explored. Systems to be
synchronised are assumed to be connected in a chain through one way coupling. The general scalar coupling
function is obtained by utilising the proposed algorithm and stability results are established using partial
contraction theory. Numerical simulations are presented at appropriate places to verify the efficacy of the
proposed approach.

1 Introduction irregular, yet well-defined fashion. Suppressing chaotic

Design of stabilising controllers for non-linear systems has
been an intensive area of research since long. Various linear
and non-linear techniques to design controllers for such
systems are explored in literature. Global stability and
tracking results for a large class of non-linear systems can
be found in [1]. Control of a particular class of non-linear
systems named chaotic systems has also drawn tremendous
attention of research community because of its presence in
different areas of human interest. These systems find
applications in spread spectrum waveforms, secure
communication, cryptography, and so on and are utilised
as chaotic sources in various transmitter –receiver schemes
[2 – 8]. Analysis of chaotic systems is interesting in the
sense that these systems do not follow simple, regular and
predictable trajectories, but swirl around in random-like,
behaviour can avoid damage to physical systems as the
oscillations induced by chaos may result in resonance.
Analysis and control of various chaotic systems, that is,
Lorenz system, Chua’s system, Duffing system, Chen
system, Genesio system and so on can be found in the
work presented in [9 – 16] and references therein.
Preliminary work in the area synchronisation of chaotic
systems was reported by Pecora and Carroll [17]. Since then,
lot of work has been done on synchronisation of various
chaotic systems. Synchronisation of non-linear systems
especially chaotic systems deals with possibility of two or
more systems oscillating in a synchronised way. Owing to its
potential applications in secure communication, physical and
biological systems, this field has invited tremendous research
attention. In literature, various synchronisation schemes such

IET Control Theory Appl., 2010, Vol. 4, Iss. 6, pp. 1005 – 1018 1005
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as variable structure control, OGY method, adaptive control,
observer-based control, active control, backstepping design
technique and so on have been successfully applied to the
chaos synchronisation [17–25]. Majority of these theories
address synchronisation of two chaotic systems in master–
slave orientation. Non-linear observer-based techniques
addressing synchronisation of chaotic systems in transmitter–
receiver configuration are presented in [26–28]. On the
other hand, most recent work on synchronisation of chaotic
systems in complex dynamical networks can be found in
[29–31].
As far as recursive design of stabilising controllers is
concerned, backstepping technique is popularly used for
non-linear systems [1]. This design technique helps in
deriving a single controller for non-linear systems
belonging to strict feedback class. This method is based on
Lyapunov stability theory and has been explored widely in
[32 – 35]. In recursive backstepping technique, the stability
of each subsystem is ensured by constructing suitable
Lyapunov functions at each stage. Then overall asymptotic
stability of closed-loop system is ensured by a combined
Lyapunov function constructed by summing up the
individual Lyapunov functions of each step [1]. This
technique is also utilised to address the stability and
tracking control problem of chaotic systems [36, 37].
In all the above cases, stability analysis of proposed strategy
is based on Lyapunov technique. However, application of
incremental form of stability analysis to design controller
for chaotic systems is not explored much. Contraction
theory is one such tool for analysing the convergent
behaviour of non-linear systems in state space form [38 –
40]. It provides framework enabling to study the stability of
non-linear system trajectories with respect to one another,
and therefore belongs to the class of incremental stability
methods. The historical background of the contraction
theory and other aspects of its origin can be found in
[41, 42] and the references therein. Contraction theory is
different from the Lyapunov stability method-based
analysis in the sense that it does not require explicit
knowledge of a specific attractor [43, 44]. In this approach,
system description in terms of differential equations is used
to carry out stability analysis using virtual displacements.
The present paper proposes contraction-based procedure
to design stabilising controller for non-linear systems. Main
emphasis here is to derive the feedback controller for a class
of systems, which are not having inherently contracting
dynamics. Recursive algorithms based on Lyapunov
stability analysis are well established and are widely used in
the literature. Such recursive techniques based on
incremental stability framework are still not explored much.
Construction of integrator backstepping under the
framework of contraction theory for a simple class of
system is proposed in [45]. Here, we present step by step
procedure to address stabilisation and synchronisation
problem of a general class of non-linear systems. Such
1006
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procedure establishes contracting nature of the system
by identifying suitable controller and coordinate
transformation. Results are explored mainly for chaotic
systems as dynamics of most of these systems belongs to
the class of systems addressed here. Some of these systems
are Duffing oscillator, Rossler system, Chua’s system,
Genesio system and so on. In the proposed approach,
system is considered as a combination of subsystems and at
each stage of the procedure system dynamics is made
contracting by suitable choice of virtual control input.
Virtual input at ith stage also ensures feedback combination
of all subsystems upto ith stage. Finally, a general structure
of control function is obtained, which ensures the uniform
negative definiteness of Jacobian of the transformed system.
It further ensures exponential stability of all the system
states. Tracking control problem in case of single link
manipulator system with actuator dynamics is addressed to
explore the proposed procedure. The results are further
extended to address synchronisation of family of m-systems,
which are connected in a chain in one way coupling
configuration. All individual elements of the chain are
having non-contracting dynamics. The coupling function is
derived using the proposed procedure and stability is
ensured using partial contraction theory results as given in
[46]. Effectiveness of the proposed approach in addressing
synchronisation is verified for a family of chaotic Chua’s
systems. Important results of the paper are stated in the
form of lemma at appropriate places. Overall, the
contribution made in this paper can be summarised as
follows:
† To derive explicit controller structure using contraction
framework to address stabilisation of non-linear systems in
strict feedback form.
† To address the synchronisation problem of one-way
coupled m-systems in a chain structure and to establish
stability results using partial contraction.
The paper is outlined as follows: Section 2 presents a brief
overview of contraction theory. Section 3 elaborates problem
formulation for the proposed class of non-linear systems.
Contraction-based procedure to derive feedback controller is
presented in this section. Section 4 of the paper addresses
tracking control problem of single-link manipulator system with
actuator dynamics. Controller structure is derived systematically
using the proposed algorithm and underlying coordinate
transformation is established. In Section 5, results are extended
to address synchronisation of family of m-systems, which are
connected in a chain in one way coupling configuration.
Numerical example is presented to synchronise five chaotic
Chua’s circuits coupled through a scalar signal derived using the
proposed approach. Finally, Section 6 concludes the paper.
2 Basics of contraction theory
Contraction is a property regarding the convergence between
two arbitrary system trajectories [38]. A non-linear system is
IET Control Theory Appl., 2010, Vol. 4, Iss. 6, pp. 1005 – 1018
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called contracting if trajectories of the perturbed system To represent the above results in more general way,
return to their nominal behaviour with an exponential consider a differential coordinate transformation
convergence rate. We briefly summarise the basic
definitions and main results of contraction theory here. dz = Qdx (3)
Consider a non-linear system
where Q(x, t) is a uniformly invertible square matrix [38, 39].
ẋ = f (x, t) (1) In transformed domain, we can write the squared distance
between trajectories as
where x [ Rm×1 is the system state vector and f (x, t) is
the non-linear continuously differentiable smooth vector dzT dz = dxT Mdx (4)
function and is defined as f : <n × <  <n . Let dx be
the virtual displacement in x, which is infinitesimal where M = QT Q is a uniformly positive definite metric.
displacements at fixed time. Introducing the concept of Taking the derivative of the squared distance in
virtual dynamics, first variation of system in (1) will be transformed domain, we obtain
 
∂f (x, t) d ∂f
dẋ = dx (dzT dz) = 2dzT dż = 2dzT Q̇ + Q Q−1 dz (5)
∂x dt ∂x

From this equation, we can further write From this equation, it is clear that exponential convergence
of dz to zero is guaranteed if the generalised Jacobian
d ∂f matrix
(dx T dx) = 2dxT dẋ = 2dx T dx ≤ 2lm (x, t)dxT dx (2)
dt ∂x
 
∂f
Here in the above equation, the Jacobian matrix is denoted F = Q̇ + Q Q−1 (6)
∂x
as J ( = (∂f /∂x)) and the largest eigenvalue of the symmetric
part of Jacobian is represented by lm (x, t). If this eigenvalue
is uniformly negative definite. Again it leads to the result that all
lm (x, t) is strictly uniformly negative, then any infinitesimal
the solution trajectories of system (1) converge exponentially to
length dx converges exponentially to zero. Here (dx T dx)
single trajectory, independent of initial conditions. Hence, for
represents the squared distance between the neighbouring
the system in (1) to be contracting, function f (x, t) should be
trajectories. By carrying out path integration in (2), it is
contracting function and the absolute value of the largest
assured that all the solution trajectories of system (1)
eigenvalue of the symmetric part of F is called contracting
converge exponentially to single trajectory, independently
rate of the system w.r.t. the uniformly positive definite metric
of the initial conditions.
M = QT Q. These results are stated in the form of following
lemma without proof as given in [38–40].
Definition 1: Uniformly negative definiteness of Jacobian
∂f (x, t)/∂x of system with dynamics ẋ = f (x, t) means that Lemma 2: Consider the system given in (1). If there exists a
there exists a scalar a . 0, ∀x, ∀t ≥ 0 s.t. uniformly positive-definite metric M(x, t) = QT (x, t)Q(x, t)
∂f /∂x ≤ −aI , 0. As all matrix inequalities will refer to such that the associated generalised Jacobian matrix
symmetric part of the square matrix involved, so we can
further write, 1/2(∂f /∂x + ∂f T /∂x) ≤ −aI , 0.  
∂f
F = Q̇ + Q Q−1 (7)
∂x
Definition 2: Given the system equations ẋ = f (x, t), a
region (open connected space) of state space is called a is uniformly negative definite, then all system trajectories
contracting region if the Jacobian (∂f /∂x) is uniformly converge exponentially to a single trajectory, with
negative definite in that region. convergence rate |lm (x, t)|, where lm (x, t) is the largest
eigenvalue of the symmetric part of F. Then the system is
Considering the above definition, the basic results said to be contracting.
(without proof) related to exponential convergence of the
trajectories can be stated as follows [38, 40] For the system in (1), the Jacobian matrix J = ∂f /∂x can be
represented in matrix form as
Lemma 1: Given the system equations ẋ = f (x, t), any ⎡ ⎤
trajectory which starts in a ball of constant radius centred J1,1 J1,2 J1,3 ... J1,n−1 J1,n
about a given trajectory and contained at all times in a ⎢ J2,1 J2,2 J2,3 ... J2,n−1 J2,n ⎥
⎢ ⎥
contraction region, remains in that ball and converges ⎢J J3,2 J3,3 ... J3,n−1 J3,n ⎥
J = ⎢ 3,1 ⎥ (8)
exponentially to the given trajectory. Further, global ⎢ . .. .. .. .. .. ⎥
⎣ .. . . . . . ⎦
exponential convergence to this given trajectory is
guaranteed if the whole state space region is contracting. Jn,1 Jn,2 Jn,3 ... Jn,n−1 Jn,n

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For such matrix, following lemma can be stated to ensure the
contracting behaviour of the system (1).
Lemma 3: The system having dynamics as in (1) will be
contracting if the Jacobian in (8) satisfies following conditions:
(i) All the diagonal elements Ji,i are uniformly negative
definite for i = 1, 2, . . . , n.
(ii) All off-diagonal elements satisfy Ji, j = −Jj,i condition
for i, j = 1, 2, . . . , n, ∀i = j.
Contraction theory results are also extended to various
combinations of systems. An important combination is
feedback combination, which is discussed here briefly.
Feedback combination: Consider two systems of different
dimensions and possibly contracting with different metrics
to be having following dynamics
ẋ 1 = f 1 (x 1 , x 2 , t)
(9)
ẋ 2 = f 2 (x 1 , x 2 , t)
Let the transformation dz = Qdx is used s.t. the transformed
dynamics is in feedback combination form, that is, it is
possible to write the virtual displacements as
d dz 1 F1 G dz1
= (10)
dt dz2 −GT F2 dz2
where x i = [x1 x2 · · · xi ]T and x [ <n is the state vector of
the non-linear system. fi is smooth scalar linear/non-linear
function defined as fi :<i  <, gi is a non-zero constant
for i = 1, 2, . . . , n − 1 and u represents control function to
be suitably designed. The problem in hand is to design
feedback controller u for stabilising the systems in (12). For
this purpose, contraction theory-based approach is utilised
at each stage of the design.
3.1 Contraction theory-based recursive
design of controller
Backstepping is a recursive design technique for a class of
systems that are having dynamics in strict feedback form
[1, 36, 37]. This procedure utilises Lyapunov-based
technique for stability analysis. The contraction-based
approach to develop such procedure is shown here for the
class of systems given in (12). The results are stated in the
form of a lemma and the constructive proof of the lemma
gives the feedback controller design procedure.
Assumption 1: There exists a set (r1 (v1 ), r2 (v2 ), . . . ,
rn (vn )), with ri (vi ) be continuously differentiable function
such that [∂ri (vi )]/∂vi . 0 for i = 1, 2, . . . , n.
Lemma 4: For the system dynamics given in (12), there
exists a controller u(x, J, t) given as
u(x, J, t) = −fn (x) − gn−1 zn−2 − rn (zn−1 )
∂an−1 
n−2
∂an−1
Then the augmented system will be contracting. This concept + ẋ1 + ż (13)
∂x1 ∂zk k
can be generalised to any number of systems. Other aspects of k=1
contraction theory and its applications can be found in the work
cited in [38–40, 45–47]. In this paper, results related to with J = (x1 , z1 , . . . , zn−1 )T s.t. the closed-loop system is
feedback combination of different systems along with contracting with its Jacobian J. Here, auxiliary variables zi
Lemmas 1–3 are used to design contraction-based stabilising are defined as zi = xi+1 − ai , for i = 1, 2, 3, . . . , n − 1
controller for the proposed class. with virtual control function a1 (x1 ) and aj (Jj ),
respectively, designed as follows

3 Main results 1
a1 (x1 ) = {−f1 (x1 ) − r1 (x1 )}
g1
In this section, analytical results for deriving controller
structure are presented for a class of non-linear systems. Let 1
aj (Jj ) = − fj (xj ) − rj (zj−1 ) − gj−1 zj−2
the dynamics of the proposed class of systems be given as gj

ẋ1 = f1 (x1 ) + g1 x2 ∂ak−1 n−2
∂an−1
+ ẋ + ż (14)
ẋ2 = f2 (x1 , x2 ) + g2 x3 ∂x1 1 k=1 ∂zk k
.. (11)
. Here, j = 2, 3, . . . , n − 1; vector Jj = (x1 , z1 , z2 , . . . ,
ẋn = fn (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) + u zj−1 )T and variable z0 = x1 .

Many chaotic systems are having dynamics belonging to the

class given in (11). Alternatively, above class of systems can be Proof 1: Consider first subsystem of parametric strict
represented as feedback system given in (12) as

ẋi = fi (x i ) + gi xi+1 ; i = 1, 2, . . . , n − 1 ẋ1 = f1 (x1 ) + g1 x2 (15)

(12)
ẋn = fn (x) + u Let a1 (x1 ) be the virtual control input defined as given in

1008 IET Control Theory Appl., 2010, Vol. 4, Iss. 6, pp. 1005 – 1018
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(14), which makes first subsystem contracting w.r.t. x1 . virtual displacement in differential framework can be
Defining an auxiliary variable z1 as represented as

z1 = x2 − a1 (x1 ) (16) ⎡ ⎤
∂r1 (x1 )

 − g1


dẋ1 ⎢ ∂x1 ⎥ dx1 0
we can write the dynamics in (15) as =⎢
⎣
⎥ + dz2 (25)
dż1 ∂r2 (z1 ) ⎦ dz1 g2
−g1 −
ẋ1 = −r1 (x1 ) + g1 z1 (17) ∂z1

For this system, virtual displacement in differential Here, Jacobian matrix J in (19) modifies to a (2 × 2) matrix
framework can be represented as given as

∂ ⎡ ⎤
dẋ1 = − [r (x )]dx1 + g1 dz1 ∂r1 (x1 )
∂x1 1 1
 − g1
J1,1 J1,2 ⎢ ∂x1 ⎥
J= =⎢
⎣
⎥ (26)
⇒ dẋ1 = Jdx1 + Ddz1 (18) J2,1 J2,2 ∂r2 (z1 ) ⎦
−g1 −
∂z1
where (1 × 1) Jacobian matrix J is represented by
which is UND in nature by suitable selection of a2 (x1 , z1 )
∂ and by considering dz2 to be bounded external input. The
J = J11 =− [r (x )] (19)
∂x1 1 1 constant coefficient column vector in (20) modified to

The above Jacobian J is UND in nature by suitable selection  T

of a1 (x1 ) and by considering dz1 to be a bounded external D = 0 g2 (27)
input with a constant coefficient column vector
Now taking time derivative of z2 and using (12) while
D = [g1 ] (20) defining a new auxiliary variable z3 = x4 − a3 (x1 , z1 , z2 ), we
can further write
Taking the time derivative of auxiliary variable defined in
(16) and using (12), we obtain ∂a 2 ∂a
ż2 = f3 (x1 , x2 , x3 ) + g3 z3 + g3 a3 (x1 , z1 ) − ẋ − 2 ż (28)
∂x1 1 ∂z1 1
∂a 1
ż1 = ẋ2 − ȧ1 (x1 ) = f2 (x1 , x2 ) + g2 x3 − ẋ (21)
∂x1 1 Selecting the virtual control input a3 (x1 , z1 , z2 ) as
Defining new auxiliary variable z2 as 
1
a3 (x1 , z1 , z2 ) = − f3 (x1 , x2 , x3 ) − r3 (z2 ) − g2 z1
z2 = x3 − a2 (x1 , z1 ) (22) g3

∂a 2 ∂a 2
and using this definition, the dynamics ż1 in (21) can be + ẋ + ż (29)
∂x1 1 ∂z1 1
represented as

∂a1 the dynamics in (28) gets modified to

ż1 = f2 (x1 , x2 ) + g2 z2 + g2 a2 (x1 , z1 ) − ẋ (23)
∂x1 1
ż2 = −g2 z1 + g3 z3 − r3 (z2 )
Now define a2 (x1 , z1 ) to be the virtual control input s.t. it
makes the dynamics in (23) contracting w.r.t. z1 . Along So transformed dynamics upto this stage can be represented
with that, this virtual control ensures feedback in differential framework as
interconnection of first two subsystems in (17) and (23).
Choosing the virtual control input a2 in this case as ⎡ ⎤
∂r1 (x1 )
⎡ ⎤ ⎢ − g 0 ⎥
  ⎢ ∂x1 1
⎥
1 ∂a dẋ1 ⎢ ⎥
a2 (x1 , z1 ) = −f2 (x1 , x2 ) − r2 (z1 ) − g1 x1 + 1 ẋ1 ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ −g ∂r2 (z1 ) ⎥
g2 ∂x1 ⎣ dż1 ⎦ = ⎢ − g ⎥
⎢ 1
∂z1 2
⎥
(24) dż2 ⎢ ⎥
⎣ ∂r3 (z2 ) ⎦
0 −g2 −
the dynamics in (23) becomes ∂z2
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
dx1 0
ż1 = −g1 x1 + g2 z2 − r2 (z1 ) ⎢ ⎥ ⎢0⎥
× ⎣ dz1 ⎦ + ⎣ ⎦dz3 (30)
So for the the combination of the first two subsystems, dz2 g3

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where new (3 × 3) Jacobian matrix is as follows Selecting the control input u as

⎡ ⎤ u = −fn (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) − rn (zn−1 ) − gn−1 zn−2
∂r1 (x1 )
⎡ ⎤ ⎢ − g1 0 ⎥
J11 J12 J13 ⎢ ∂x1 ⎥ ∂an−1 
n−2
∂an−1
⎢ ⎥ + ẋ1 + ż (37)
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ −g −
∂r2 (z1 ) ⎥ ∂zk k
J = ⎣ J21 J22 J23 ⎦ = ⎢ g2 ⎥ ∂x1
⎢ 1
∂z1 ⎥ k=1
J31 J32 J33 ⎢ ⎥
⎣ ∂r3 (z2 ) ⎦
0 −g2 − we obtain the dynamics of the final subsystem as
∂z2
(31) żn−1 = −rn (zn−1 ) − gn−1 zn−2 (38)

The Jacobian J is again UND in nature while considering dz3 Here, selection of u along with virtual control inputs ai for
to be bounded external input. The constant coefficient i = 1, 2, . . . , n − 1 ensures overall system to be feedback
column matrix in (27) will be given as combination of contracting subsystems. Using the
controller designed by the proposed procedure, the
 T complete dynamics of system (12) transforms to
D = 0 0 g3 (32)
ẋ1 = −r1 (x1 ) + g1 z1
Proceeding in the way presented earlier, the dynamics at ż1 = −g1 x1 + g2 z2 − r2 (z1 )
(n 2 1)th stage can be represented as
ż2 = −g2 z1 + g3 z3 − r3 (z2 )
.. .. (39)
żn−2 = fn−1 (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn−1 ) + gn−1 xn + g3 − ȧn−2 (33) .= .
żn−2 = −gn−2 zn−3 + gn−1 zn−1 − rn−1 (zn−2 )
By selecting auxiliary variable zn−1 = xn − an−1 (x1 , z1 , . . . ,
zn−2 ) and with virtual control an−1 taken as żn−1 = −rn (zn−1 ) − gn−1 zn−2

 In compact form, dynamics of the transformed system can be

1 represented by
an−1 (x1 , z1 , . . . , zn−2 ) = − fn−1 (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn−1 )
gn−1
J̇ = h(J, t) (40)
− rn−1 (zn−2 ) − gn−2 zn−3


n−3 Defining the infinitesimal virtual displacement in
∂a ∂an−1
+ n−2 ẋ1 + ż (34) transformed state vector J by dJ, the dynamics in (40)
∂x1 ∂zk k
k=1 can be represented in differential framework as

the dynamics in (33) can be rewritten as ∂h(J, t)

dJ̇ = dJ = JdJ (41)
∂J
żn−2 = −gn−2 zn−3 + gn−1 zn−1 − rn−1 (zn−2 ) (35)
where (n × n) Jacobian matrix denoted by J = ∂h(J, t)/∂J is
contracting. The structure of Jacobian matrix is represented as
Finally, for the last stage, using the definition of auxiliary (see (42))
variable zn−1 along with system dynamics in (12), we obtain
The Jacobian matrix J has to be UND in nature to establish
żn−1 = fn (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) + u − ȧn−1 (36) contracting behaviour of the overall system. The symmetric

⎡ ⎤
∂r1 (x1 )
⎢ − ∂x g1 0 0 ... 0 0 0 ⎥
⎢ 1 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ −g ∂r (z )
− 2 1 ⎥
⎢ g2 0 ... 0 0 0 ⎥
⎢ 1
∂z1 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ∂r (z ) ⎥
⎢ 0 −g2 − 3 2 g3 ... 0 0 0 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
J=⎢ ∂z2 ⎥ (42)
⎢ ⎥
⎢ .
.. .
.. .. .. .. .. .. ⎥
⎢ . . ... . . . ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ∂rn−1 (zn−2 ) ⎥
⎢ 0 0 0 0 ... −gn−2 − gn−1 ⎥
⎢ ∂zn−2 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎣ ∂rn (zn−1 ) ⎦
0 0 0 0 ... 0 −gn−1 −
∂zn−1

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part of the above matrix Js = 12 (J + JT ) can be represented Here, F1 and F2 are non-linear functions, G1 and G2 are known
as (see (43)) invertible functions. u represents scalar control input to the
system. In tracking control problem, objective is to design a
Using Assumption 1, we can easily say that selection controller u so that the output y = q converges to a desired
of control function u(x, J, t) as in (13) and virtual control trajectory yd with all other signals remaining bounded.
function ai , as in (14) would ensure the contracting nature Defining tracking error e1 = y − yd and selecting auxiliary
of the transformed system. Using the definition of auxiliary variables as z1 = x2 − a1 , z2 = x3 − a2 , respectively, the
variables zi ; for i = 1, 2, . . . , n − 1, it can easily be shown controller u can be designed using the proposed procedure.
that state vector x is contracting. As a result, all the states Here, virtual control inputs are selected as a1 = −e1 + ẏd
of the system converge to each other, exponentially as per and a2 = D{(N /D) sin(e1 + yd ) + (B/D)x2 − k1 z1 + ÿd },
the basic lemma of contraction theory. A respectively. With these choices along with controller function as
  
1
u = M k1 De1 − k1 D(1 − k1 ) − z − k2 z2 .
4 Tracking controller for D 1
manipulator system with  
B2 Km
actuator dynamics + Nx2 cos(x1 ) − x2 −
D M
To analyse the proposed strategy, single-link manipulator
  
B H BN
system with actuator dynamics is considered. The dynamics +M + x3 − sin(x1 ) + Dÿ˙ d (46)
of this system is given by D M D

Dq̈ + Bq̇ + N sin(q) = t the dynamics of the system (45) in transformed domain can be
(44) represented as
M ṫ + H t + Km q̇ = u
ė1 = −e1 + z1
This system can be represented in form (12) by choosing the
state variables as x1 = q, x2 = q̇ and x3 = t, respectively. 1
ż1 = −e1 + (1 − k1 )z1 + z (47)
With these selections, we obtain D 2
1
ẋ1 = x2 ż2 = − z − (k2 − k1 )z2
D 1
ẋ2 = F1 (x1 , x2 ) + G1 x3 (45)
The controller given in (46) can be derived easily by following the
ẋ3 = F2 (x1 , x2 , x3 ) + G2 u
proposed step-by-step procedure presented in the earlier section.
The derived transformed system (47) can be written in
where xi for i = 1, 2, 3 are state variables. Different functions
differential framework as
involved in (45) are defined as follows
⎡ ⎤
⎡ ⎤ −1 1 0 ⎡ ⎤
1
F1 (x1 , x2 ) = (−N sin(x1 ) − Bx2 ) dė1 ⎢ 1 ⎥ de1
⎣ dż1 ⎦ = ⎢ −1 1 − k1 ⎥⎣
D ⎢ D ⎥ dz1 ⎦ (48)
⎣ 1 ⎦
1 dż2 dz2
F2 (x1 , x2 , x3 ) = − (Km x2 + Hx3 ) 0 − −(k2 − k1 )
M D

1 1 In the above analysis, the proposed approach helps in deriving

G1 = ; G2 =
D M the transformation from x = (x1 x2 x3 )T system to

⎡ ⎤
∂r1 (x1 )
⎢ − ∂x 0 0 0 ... 0 0 0 ⎥
⎢ 1 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ∂r (z )
− 2 1 ⎥
⎢ 0 0 0 ... 0 0 0 ⎥
⎢ ∂z1 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ∂r (z ) ⎥
⎢ 0 0 − 3 2 0 ... 0 0 0 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
Js = ⎢ ∂z2 ⎥ (43)
⎢ ⎥
⎢ .
.. .
.. .. .. .. .. .. ⎥
⎢ . . ... . . . ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ∂rn−1 (zn−2 ) ⎥
⎢ 0 0 0 0 ... 0 − 0 ⎥
⎢ ∂zn−2 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎣ ∂rn (zn−1 ) ⎦
0 0 0 0 ... 0 0 −
∂zn−1

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z = (e1 z1 z2 )T system. Contracting behaviour of the system in ensured [To show contracting behaviour, uniformly negative
the transformed domain can be established quite easily with definiteness of matrix F = (Q̇ + Q∂f /∂x)Q−1 is to be
the help of the control function proposed in (46). The matrix ensured. For this purpose, we have to satisfy the condition
Q(x, t) used for transformation dz = Q(x, t)dx comes out to be (1/2)(F + FT ) ≤ −aI , 0, which can be shown easily by
⎡ ⎤ selecting suitable value of the gains k1 and k2 , so exponential
1 0 0 convergence of transformed system trajectories can be assured
Q(x, t) = ⎣ 1 1 0⎦ (49) as per Lemma 1. Hence, e1 , z1 and z2 states converge to zero].
k1 D − N cos(x1 ) k1 D − B 1 So output y tracks the desired trajectory yd as per the
requirement. The results showing the tracking performance are
which is uniformly invertible matrix. The inverse of this matrix presented in Fig. 1. Here simulations are run for 20 s in step of
can be given as 0.01 s. The desired trajectory is taken to be a sinusoidal signal
⎡ ⎤ defined as yd = sin(t). Different parameters of the single-link
1 0 0 manipulator with actuator dynamics are taken as D ¼ 1,
Q−1 =⎣ −1 1 0⎦ (50) M ¼ 0.01, B ¼ 1, Km = 10, H ¼ 0.5 and N ¼ 10. The initial
N cos(x1 ) − B B − k1 D 1 conditions for the state variables are taken as [0.1 6.28 0]T .
Controller in this case is switched on at time t ¼ 2 s. The
So, the transformation metric M = Q(x, t)T Q(x, t) will be response shows the effectiveness of the proposed controller in
meeting out the tracking performance.
⎡ ⎤
2 + k2 M12 M13
M = ⎣ M21 1 − (k1 D − B)2 M23 ⎦ (51)
5 Synchronisation of m-non-
M31 M32 1
linear systems
where different elements are given as M12 = M21 = Here, main emphasis is on synchronising family of m one-
1 + (k1 D − B)(k1 D − N cos(x1 )), M13 = M31 = k1 D− way coupled non-linear systems in chain structure. The
N cos(x1 ) and M23 = M32 = k1 D − B, respectively. In (51), coupling scheme of such chain network is shown in Fig. 2.
the non-linear term k = k1 D − N cos(x1 ). This symmetric The dynamics of one-way coupled non-linear systems to be
metric M can be shown to be uniformly positive definite for synchronised is given as
suitable selection of gains k1 and k2 . The Jacobian ∂f (x, t)/∂x
of the closed-loop system with controller in (46) can be given as ẋ 1 = f (x 1 , t)
⎡ ⎤ ẋ 2 = f (x 2 , t) + u(x1 ) − u(x 2 )
0 1 0
∂f (x, t) ⎢ N B 1 ⎥ ẋ 3 = f (x 3 , t) + u(x2 ) − u(x 3 )
= ⎣ − cos(x1 ) − ⎦ (52) (55)
∂x D D D .. ..
r31 r32 r33 .= .
ẋm = f (x m , t) + u(x m−1 ) − u(x m )
where different elements of the  Jacobian matrix
 are given as
r31 = k21 D − k1 k2 D − (1/D) + Nk2 − (BN /D) cos(x1 ) − Nx2
sin(x1 ), r32 = Bk2 − k1 D − (B2 /D) − 1/D + N cos(x1 ) + k21 D− Here x i [ <n ; for i = 1, 2, . . . , n and non-linear function f
k1 k2 D and r33 = (B/D) − k2 , respectively. Using the matrices representing dynamics of uncoupled subsystems is defined as
given in (49), (50) and (52), matrix F = Qm Q−1 can be f :<n × <  <n . One-way coupling force between two
computed where Qm = Q̇ + Q(∂f /∂x). For the case of a neighbouring systems in the chain network is given by
single-link manipulator with above matrices, Qm comes out to be u(xi−1 ) − u(x i ) for i = 2, 3, . . . , m. To establish
synchronisation of whole network, following lemma is used
⎡ ⎤ [46].
0 1 0
⎢ N B 1 ⎥
Qm = ⎣ − cos(x1 ) 1 − ⎦ (53)
D D D Lemma 5: If the function f (xi , t) − u(xi ) is contracting in
u31 u32 k1 − k2 (55), then all the subsystem given in (55) will get
synchronised exponentially irrespective of their initial
where elements u31 = (k1 − k2 )[k1 D − N cos(x1 )] and conditions.
u32 = (k1 − k2 )[k1 D − B] − (1/D). So using Q−1 and Qm ,
matrix F comes out to be
Proof 2: If for the ith subsystem f (xi , t) − u(xi ) is contracting
⎡ ⎤ and if we consider u(x i−1 ) as input to this subsystem, then by
−1 1 0
⎢ 1 ⎥ replacing x i by x i−1 in the dynamics of ith subsystem, we
⎢ −1 1 − k1 ⎥
F=⎢ D ⎥ (54) obtain, the uncoupled dynamics of (i 2 1)th subsystem. So,
⎣ 1 ⎦ (i 2 1)th subsystem is a particular solution of ith subsystem.
0 − −(k2 − k1 ) Proceeding along the chain we can easily prove that the
D
overall coupled system will be contracting, that is all
which is UND in nature. So convergence of de1  0 is subsystems will get synchronised exponentially. A

1012 IET Control Theory Appl., 2010, Vol. 4, Iss. 6, pp. 1005 – 1018
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Figure 1 Control of single-link manipulator with actuator dynamics (without uncertainty)
a Tracking of desired state yd
b and c Variation of other state trajectories
d Tracking error
Figure 2 One-way coupled systems in chain configuration
Here, the approach proposed in the earlier section is
utilised to design the suitable coupling force to meet out
the synchronisation requirement. For the class of systems
given in (12), if coupling function is taken as the control
function designed for stabilisation of system, then collective
synchronisation of all the systems in chain can be achieved.
5.1 Synchronisation of chaotic
Chua’s circuits
Here Chua’s circuit with cubic non-linearity is considered
[48]. Chua’s circuit with such dynamics can exhibit chaotic
as well as limit cycle behaviour for specific choice of
parameters and initial conditions. The dynamics of this
system is given as
ẋ1 = −bx2
ẋ2 = x1 − x2 + x3 (56)
ẋ3 = a(x2 − rx33 − cx3 ) + u
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where a, r, c and b are the parameters of the system and u
is the control input. The dynamics of Chua’s circuit
with cubic non-linearity is clearly in the required form
to apply backstepping procedure. This system exhibits
chaotic behaviour for parameters values a ¼ 9.5, b ¼ 100/7,
r ¼ 4/63 and c ¼ 21/7. Initial conditions for the system are
taken as x(0) = [−1 − 0.15 0.1]T and simulation is run
for 200 s with a step size of 0.01. The behaviour of the
system is shown in Fig. 3. Three-dimensional phase portrait
is shown in Fig. 3a. The open-loop response of the system
to initial condition is shown in Figs. 3b–d.
The stabilising controller for the system in (56) can be
derived by using the procedure proposed in the previous
section. For this system, selecting auxiliary variables as
z1 = x2 − a1 and z2 = x3 − a2 and virtual control inputs
as a1 = x1 and a2 = −x1 + x2 − (1 + b)z1 , respectively,
the stabilising controller comes out to be
u = x1 − (1 + b2 )x2 − (1 + b)x3 − a(x2 − rx33 − cx3 ) (57)
1013
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Figure 3 Behaviour of chaotic Chua’s systems without controller

a Three-dimensional phase portrait of Chua’s system
b –d Variation of different states of systems

Now, consider the case of one-way coupled system having the dynamics of ith system given as
structure given in Fig. 2 with non-linear coupling function as
in (57). The dynamics of different Chua’s subsystems in the ẋi,1 = −bxi,2
chain can be given as
ẋi,2 = xi,1 − xi,2 + xj,3 (60)
ẋi,3 = a(xi,2 − rx3i,3 − cxi,3 ) − ui + ui−1
ẋj,1 = −bxj,2
ẋj,2 = xj,1 − xj,2 + xj,3 (58) is contracting with ui−1 taken as external input to the
system. The corresponding control function ui comes out
ẋj,3 = a(xj,2 − rx3j,3 − cxj,3 ) to be

ui = −(xi,1 − (1 + b2 )xi,2 − (1 + b)xi,3

for the first system of the chain, that is, for index j ¼ 1.
For the rest of the systems in chain, dynamics can be − a(xi,2 − rx3i,3 − cxi,3 )); i = 1, 2, 3, . . . , m (61)
given as
With control function in (61), the system dynamics in (60)
becomes
ẋj,1 = −bxj,2
ẋj,2 = xj,1 − xj,2 + xj,3 (59) ẋi,1 = −bxi,2

ẋj,3 = a(xj,2 − rx3j,3 − cxj,3 ) + (uj−1 − uj ) ẋi,2 = xi,1 − xi,2 + xj,3 (62)
ẋi,3 = xi,1 − (1 + b2 )xi,2 − (1 + b)xi,3 + ui−1
for j = 2, 3, . . . , m with xj,k representing the kth state
variable of jth system in the chain network. Here, term The proposed approach establishes a transformation of
(uj−1 − uj ) represents coupling between ( j 2 1)th and jth actual system states to a transformed domain. The linear
system with control function uj given as per (57). To transformation involved here is given as
achieve synchronisation, we have to show that for ith ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤
system, function (f (x i , t) − u(x i )) is contracting in nature. xi,1 1 0 0 xi,1
⎣ zi,1 ⎦ = ⎣ −1 1 0 ⎦⎣ xi,2 ⎦ (63)
Here, xi [ <3 and non-linear function f is defined as
f :(<3 × <)  <3 . We need to establish that the zi,2 −b b 1 xi,3

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Figure 4 Synchronisation of the five chaotic Chua’s systems

a – c Variation of different states of systems

Using this transformation, the system in (62) can be Introducing the virtual increments in transformed system
represented in the transformed domain as variables and writing the dynamics in differential domain,
the Jacobian matrix comes out as
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤
ẋi,1 −b −b 0 xi,1 0 −b −b 0
⎣ żi,1 ⎦ = ⎣ b −1 1 ⎦⎣ zi,1 ⎦ + ⎣ 0 ⎦ (64) J=⎣ b −1 1 ⎦ (65)
żi,2 0 −1 −1 zi,2 ui−1 0 −1 −1

Figure 5 Synchronisation of the five chaotic Chua’s systems

a – d Variation of synchronisation error between consecutive systems

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which is uniformly negative definite. This can easily be
established using the results presented in Section
3. So the transformed system is contracting, which also
implies the contracting nature of chain system in (55). So
with the coupling shown in Fig. 2, all the systems will
synchronise to each other exponentially as per the result
presented in Lemma 5.
The proposed methodology is analysed for a case of five
chaotic Chua’s subsystems connected in one-way coupling
configuration. The initial conditions for five systems are taken
as x 1 (0) = [−1 −0.15 0.1]T , x 2 (0) = [1 −0.1 −1]T ,
x 3 (0) = [0.5 −0.2 −0.5]T , x 4 (0) = [0.7 −0.4 −1.2]T
T
and x 5 (0) = [0.6 −0.2 −0.6] , respectively. The values of
system parameters are taken as that of the earlier case.
Simulations are run for 30 s in this case in a step of 0.01 s
and controller is switched on at t ¼ 5 s. The synchronisation
results are presented in Fig. 4. Convergence of corresponding
states of all five systems is shown in Figs. 4a–c. Variation of
synchronising error between the adjacent systems in chain is
shown in Figs. 5a–d. Plots clearly show the synchronisation
behaviour of all the systems connected in chain.
6 Conclusion
Contraction-based algorithm is proposed for designing
stabilising controller for strict feedback class of non-linear
systems. The procedure is developed in the contraction
theory framework and explicit structure of control function is
derived by selecting virtual inputs at each stage of system in
such a way that the system becomes a feedback combination
of contracting subsystems. Effort is made to have a
systematic procedure similar to Lyapunov-based approach to
derive controller. Proposed methodology establishes
exponential stability of system states in quite comprehensive
manner. Tracking control design for single-link manipulator
system with actuator dynamics is considered as an example
to show the procedural steps. The approach is extended to
address synchronisation problem of family of m one-way
coupled non-linear systems in a chain. Many chaotic systems
such as Genesio system, Chua’s system, Rossler system and
so on are members of the proposed class of systems. These
chaotic systems are not having contracting dynamics
inherently. The coupling function between the consecutive
systems in the chain is derived using the proposed
contraction-based approach. Numerical simulations are
presented in the end to verify the efficacy of the poposed
procedure in establishing exponential synchronisation of
family of systems for arbitrary initial conditions. The
proposed results may be helpful in analysing synchronisation
behaviour of networked systems in the field of neural,
biological and electronic science.
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