Predictive Control of Switched Nonlinear Systems: Satisfying Uncertain Schedules Subject to State and Control Constraints

In this work we consider robust predictive control of switched uncertain nonlinear systems required to satisfy a prescribed switching sequence with uncertainty in the switching times subject to state and input constraints. To illustrate our approach, we consider first the problem of satisfying a prescribed schedule subject to uncertainty only in the switching time. Predictive controllers that guarantee state and input constraint satisfaction from an explicitly characterized set of initial conditions are first designed. The performance and constraint handling capabilities of the predictive controllers are subsequently utilized in ensuring the satisfaction of the switching schedule while preserving stability. The results are then generalized to address the problem in the presence of uncertainty in the dynamics of the constituent modes. The proposed control method is demonstrated through application to a scheduled chemical process example.