Global output feedback tracking for nonlinear systems in generalized output-feedback canonical form

A global output feedback dynamic compensator is proposed for stabilization and tracking of a class of systems that are globally diffeomorphic into systems which are in generalized output-feedback canonical form. This form includes as special cases the standard output-feedback canonical form and various other forms considered previously in the literature. Output-dependent nonlinearities are allowed to enter both additively and multiplicatively. Under the assumption that a constant matrix can be found to achieve a certain property, it is shown that a reduced-order observer and a backstepping controller can be designed to achieve asymptotic tracking. For the special case of linear systems, the designed dynamic controller reduces to the standard reduced-order observer and linear controller. This is the first global output-feedback tracking results for this class of systems.