Design of nonlinear optimal regulators using lower dimensional riemannian geometric models

A new Riemannian geometric model for the controlled plant is proposed by imbedding the control vector space in the state space, so as to reduce the dimension of the model. This geometric model is derived by replacing the orthogonal straight coordinate axes on the state space of a linear system with the curvilinear coordinate axes. Therefore the integral manifold of the geometric model becomes homeomorphic to that of fictitious linear system. For the lower dimensional Riemannian geometric model, a nonlinear optimal regulator with a quadratic form performance index which contains the Riemannian metric tensor is designed. Since the integral manifold of the nonlinear regulator is determined to be homeomorphic to that of the linear regulator, it is expected that the basic properties of the linear regulator such as feedback structure, stability and robustness are to be reflected in those of the nonlinear regulator. To apply the above regulator theory to a real nonlinear plant, it is discussed how to distort the curvilinear coordinate axes on which a nonlinear plant behaves as a linear system. Consequently, a partial differential equation with respect to the homeomorphism is derived. Finally, the computational algorithm for the nonlinear optimal regulator is discussed and a numerical example is shown.