Design of a fuzzy adaptive controller for MIMO nonlinear time-delay systems with unknown actuator nonlinearities and unknown control direction

This paper aims at investigating the fuzzy adaptive control design for uncertain multivariable systems with unknown actuator nonlinearities and unknown control direction that possibly exhibit time-delay. The actuator nonlinearities involve dead-zone or backlash-like hysteresis, while the control direction is closely related to the sign of the control gain matrix. Two fuzzy adaptive controllers are proposed to deal with such an issue. The design of the first controller is mainly carried out in the free time-delay case, while the second control design is performed assuming that the system exhibits time-varying delays. Of practical interest, the adaptive compensation of the effects of the actuator nonlinearities requires neither the knowledge of their parameters nor the construction of their inverse. Furthermore, the lack of knowledge of the control direction is handled by incorporating in the control law a Nussbaum-type function. The effectiveness of the proposed fuzzy adaptive controllers is illustrated through simulation results.