Robust Output Feedback of Nonlinear Systems through the Efficient Solution of Min-Max Optimization Problems

Abstract: We examine robust output feedback control of discrete-time nonlinear systems with bounded uncertainties affecting the dynamics and measurements. Specifically, we demonstrate how to construct semi-infinite programs that produce gains to minimize some desired performance cost over a finite prediction horizon for the worst-case realization of the system's uncertainties, while also ensuring that any specified nonlinear constraints are always satisfied. The solution process relies on an implicit description of the feasible state space through prior measurements and the system dynamics, and assumes that the system is always in the subset of the feasible space that is most detrimental to performance. In doing so, we can guarantee that the system's true state will meet all of the chosen performance criteria without resorting to any explicit state estimation. Under some smoothness assumptions, we also discuss solving these semi-infinite programs through local reduction techniques, which generate optimal scenario sets for the uncertainty realizations to approximate the continuous uncertainty space and speed up the computation of optima. When tested on a two-dimensional nonlinear quadrotor, the developed method achieves robust constraint satisfaction and tracking despite dealing with highly uncertain measurements and system dynamics.