Adaptively Controlling Nonlinear Continuous-Time Systems Using Multilayer Neural Networks

Multilayer neural networks are used in a nonlinear adaptive control problem. The plant is an unknown feedback-linearizable continuous-time system. The control law is defined in terms of the neural network models of system nonlinearities to control the plant to track a reference command. The network parameters are updated on-line according to a gradient learning rule with dead zone. A local convergence result is provided, which says that if the initial parameter errors are small enough, then the tracking error will converge to a bounded area. Simulations are designed to demonstrate various aspects of theoretical results.