Global adaptive output-feedback control of nonlinear systems. I. Linear parameterization

The problem of designing global adaptive output-feedback tracking controls for single-input single-output nonlinear systems which are linear with respect to the input and an unknown constant parameter vector is addressed. A class of systems which can be globally controlled by adaptive observer-based output-feedback compensators is identified by geometric coordinate-free conditions. The nonlinearities depend on the output only: growth conditions are not required. Each system in the class admits observers with linear error dynamics and is minimum phase, i.e., it has linear asymptotically stable zero dynamics. When the parameters are known, new sufficient conditions for global output-feedback tracking control are obtained as a special case. For linear systems the result recovers a well-known fundamental adaptive result. Three examples are discussed