Event-Triggered Control of Switched Systems
Summary
Switched systems comprise several dynamic subsystems and a rule that orchestrates transitions between them. These frameworks arise naturally in networked environments, power electronics, autonomous vehicles and robotic networks where operational modes change in response to external commands or internal conditions. Event-triggered control departs from traditional periodic sampling by updating control inputs only when a pre-specified condition is met, thus reducing computational load and communication demand. In switched contexts, this paradigm must accommodate abrupt mode changes, as well as uncertainties such as time delays, quantisation and external disturbances. Central to the design are Lyapunov-based techniques, which ensure stability by constructing functionals that decrease at both switching instants and event occurrences. Average dwell time and mode-dependent dwell time constraints impose lower bounds on the interval between switches, precluding pathological behaviours such as Zeno phenomena, wherein infinitely many events occur in finite time. Recent advances have extended event-triggered schemes to nonlinear and stochastic switched models, integrated sliding-mode strategies to enhance robustness and developed network-aware filters that preserve performance under packet loss. These methods have demonstrated their capacity to maintain stability and prescribed performance levels while economising communication resources. Practical implementations span from energy-efficient inverter control in renewable systems to resilient estimation in cyber-physical infrastructures, underscoring the global significance of event-triggered approaches for complex, mode-varying systems.
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Event-Triggered Control of Switched Systems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in event-triggered control of switched systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Switched system: A dynamical model composed of multiple subsystems and a rule dictating transitions between them.
Event-triggered control: A control strategy in which updates occur only when a specified condition is violated, reducing unnecessary communications.
Average dwell time: A constraint imposing a minimum average interval between successive mode switches to guarantee stability.
Lyapunov function: A scalar functional used to assess the stability of a system by its decreasing behaviour along system trajectories.
Zeno behaviour: A pathological phenomenon where infinitely many events or switches occur within a finite time interval, undermining practical implementation.
References
- Intelligent Control of Performance Constrained Switched Nonlinear Systems With Random Noises and Its Application: An Event-Driven Approach. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I Regular Papers (2022).
- Event-Driven Control for Switched Systems With Quantization and Packet Loss. IEEE Access (2020).
- Quantized feedback stabilization of impulsive switched linear systems based on event triggering. IET Control Theory and Applications (2024).
- Event-triggered sliding mode control for a class of uncertain switching systems. AIMS Mathematics (2023).
- Design of Event-Triggered Asynchronous H∞ Filter for Switched Systems Using the Sampled-Data Approach. IEEE Access (2023).
- Observer‐Based Event‐Triggered Control for Switched Systems with Time‐Varying Delay and Norm‐Bounded Disturbance. Mathematical Problems in Engineering (2016).
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