In control theory, dynamical systems are in strict-feedback form when they can be expressed as
where
Here, strict feedback refers to the fact that the nonlinear functions
Systems in strict-feedback form can be stabilized by recursive application of backstepping. That is,
- It is given that the system
- A control
u 1 ( x , z 1 ) is designed so that the systemis stabilized so thatz 1 u x V 1 ( x , z 1 ) = V x ( x ) + 1 2 ( z 1 − u x ( x ) ) 2 u 1 V ˙ 1 - A control
u 2 ( x , z 1 , z 2 ) is designed so that the systemis stabilized so thatz 2 u 1 V 2 ( x , z 1 , z 2 ) = V 1 ( x , z 1 ) + 1 2 ( z 2 − u 1 ( x , z 1 ) ) 2 u 2 V ˙ 2 - This process continues until the actual
u is known, and - The real control
u stabilizesz k u k − 1 - The fictitious control
u k − 1 z k − 1 u k − 2 - The fictitious control
u k − 2 z k − 2 u k − 3 - ...
- The fictitious control
u 2 z 2 u 1 - The fictitious control
u 1 z 1 u x - The fictitious control
u x x to the origin.
This process is known as backstepping because it starts with the requirements on some internal subsystem for stability and progressively steps back out of the system, maintaining stability at each step. Because
then the resulting system has an equilibrium at the origin (i.e., where