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arxiveess.SY2026-07-05

On the Modulating Function Method for Control Problems

Davi G. Accioli, Jerome Jouffroy

The modulating function method is an algebraic framework that, thus far, has been used for state and parameter estimation, as well as fault detection, of linear, fractional-order, distributed, and some nonlinear systems. At the core of the method lies the modulating function, which can either be selected directly or be obtained as a solution to an auxiliary system. By introducing the notion of dual modulating functions and dual modulations using auxiliary systems and duality, this paper shows that this framework is not only an estimation framework, but also a controller design framework for LTV systems. In particular, necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of the associated control laws are introduced; the well-known state feedback law is obtained as a particular case of the dual modulation approach, along with output feedback, LTI sliding mode control, the reachability gramian, and the state-transition matrix; and a new fixed-time control law is proposed for both LTI and LTV systems, including an estimate of the transient behavior. Moreover, numerical simulations of the newly proposed control law are performed, indicating similar performance levels to a benchmark LQR even when handling unmatched disturbances.

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arxivcs.ROeess.SY2026-07-12

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arxiveess.SY2026-07-17

Dynamic Constraint Reconstruction Based Control Barrier Functions for Safety-Critical Control of High-Dimensional Manipulators

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Control barrier functions (CBFs) provide formal safety guarantees for constrained nonlinear systems, but their effectiveness relies on accurate system dynamics. In high-dimensional manipulators subject to unknown disturbances and model uncertainties, fixed safety constraints cons…

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arxivmath.OCeess.SY2026-07-13

Exact Solutions to a Class of Constrained Optimal Control Problems via Lossless Convexification for Digital Control

Vaibhav Upadhyay, Siddhartha Ganguly, Debasish Chatterjee

This article establishes a new numerically viable technique for solving a class of constrained, nonconvex, continuous-time optimal control problems (OCPs) for linear systems that commonly arise in aerial and aerospace applications. The lossless convexification technique is employ…

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arxiveess.SY2026-07-23

Robust Adaptive Backup Control Barrier Functions

Ersin Daş, David E. J. van Wijk, Tamas G. Molnar, Aaron D. Ames, Joel W. Burdick

We propose a notion of robust adaptive backup control barrier functions for nonlinear control affine systems with parametric uncertainty in both the drift dynamics and actuation matrix. Backup control barrier functions guarantee safety by predicting the system's trajectory under…

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