DIFFER SEMINAR: Funnel control: origin and recent advances

Abstract: Funnel control is a powerful and simple nonlinear control method to solve the output tracking problem for uncertain systems with prescribed transient performance as well as with guaranteed accuracy. The origin of the funnel controller can be seen in (adaptive) high gain feedback, and the funnel controller resolves the major problems of high-gain feedback; in particular, arbitrary reference signals can be tracked arbitrary well and the feedback gain is not monotonically increasing. A simple proof is provided why the funnel controller works and further theoretical extensions are discussed and illustrated with experimental setups and simulations.