EMG 2410 Control Engineering II

Tutorial 3

1. Consider a nonlinear system y(t) = u(t)3 . Linearize the system around uo = 3. Find the error
if the linearization is used to calculate the value of y when u = 2.5.
[Ans: y = 27u − 54, Error = 13.6%]

2. Linearize the nonlinear equation, z = y 2 + xy − 2y, in about x = 9, y = 5 . Find the error if the
linearization is used to calculate the value of z when x = 6, y = 10.
[Ans: z = 5x + 17y − 70, Error = 2.38% ]

3. Evaluate the stability of a nonlinear system described by

ẋ = −(x − y)(1 − x − y)

ẏ = x(2 + y).

[Ans: Select the Lyapunov function V = 12 x2 + 12 y 2 . Then V̇ = − x2 − x3 − 3xy . V̇ is negative

semi-definite if x2 − x3 − 3xy > 0 and hence the origin of the system is globally stable]

4. A nonlinear system is governed by

ẋ1 = −x1

ẋ2 = −x2 + 2x1 x22 .

Determine the stability of the system.

[Ans: Select V = x21 + x22 , V̇ = −2x21 − 2x22 (1 − 2x1 x2 ). V̇ is negative definite if 1 − 2x1 x2 >
0, ∀x ̸= 0. Thus Lyapunov’s criterion is satisfied and hence the origin of the system is asymp-
totically stable]

5. Determine the stability of a nonlinear system governed by

ẋ1 = −x1 − x2

ẋ2 = −x2 .

[Ans: V̇ = −2x21 − 2x1 x2 − 2x22 = −(x1 + x2 )2 − x21 − x22 < 0, ∀x ̸= 0, hence the origin is
globally asymptotically stable]

6. With the aid of a diagram, discuss how the following nonlinear control methods work:

(a) Gain scheduling,

(b) Adaptive control.

Definite Quadratic Forms

ˆ The quadratic form V = ⟨x, Ax⟩ is said to be positive definite if it is non-negative for all real
values of x and is zero only when x = 0. Example V (x) = x21 + x22 . It is positive except for x = 0

ˆ The quadratic form V = ⟨x, Ax⟩ is said to be positive semidefinite if it is non-negative but
can be zero when x ̸= 0. Example V (x) = (x1 + x2 )2 + x23 . V is positive except for x = 0 and
(x1 = −x2 , x3 = 0.
ˆ The quadratic form Q = ⟨x, Ax⟩ is said to be negative definite if it is negative for all real
values of x and is zero only when x = 0. Example V (x) = −(x21 + x22 + x23 ).

ˆ The quadratic form V = ⟨x, Ax⟩ is said to be negative semidefinite if it is negative but can
be zero when x ̸= 0. Example V (x) = −(x1 + x2 )2 − x21 + x22 . V is negative except for x = 0 and
(x1 = −x2 ).