Robust Control of the Chaotic Lorenz System

Abstract

This paper presents a global approach for controlling the Lorenz system. The basic idea is to partially cancel the nonlinear cross-coupling terms such that the stability of the resulting system can be guaranteed by sequentially proving the stability of each individual state. The method combines ideas from feedback linearization, classical control theory, and Lyapunov's second method. Robust behavior with respect to model uncertainties in the feedback loop is proven. The performance of partial linearization compared to input-state linearization is illustrated on tracking of several trajectories including a periodic orbit and a steady state.