Robust Generation of Limit Cycles in Nonlinear Systems: Application on Two Mechanical Systems

This paper studies inducing robust stable oscillations in nonlinear systems of any order. This goal is achieved through creating stable limit cycles in the closed-loop system. For this purpose, the Lyapunov stability theorem which is suitable for stability analysis of the limit cycles is used. In this approach, the Lyapunov function candidate should have zero value for all the points of the limit cycle and be positive in the other points in the vicinity of it. The proposed robust controller consists of a nominal control law with an additional term that guarantees the robust performance. It is proved that the designed controller results in creating the desirable stable limit cycle in the phase trajectories of the uncertain closed-loop system and leads to induce stable oscillations in the system's output. Additionally, in order to show the applicability of the proposed method, it is applied on two practical systems: a time-periodic microelectromechanical system (MEMS) with parametric errors and a single-link flexible joint robot in the presence of external disturbances. Computer simulations show the effective robust performance of the proposed controllers in generating the robust output oscillations.