Piecewise-affine state feedback for piecewise-affine slab systems using convex optimization

This paper shows that Lyapunov-based state feedback controller synthesis for piecewise-affine (PWA) slab systems can be cast as an optimization problem subject to a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) analytically parameterized by a vector. Furthermore, it is shown that continuity of the control inputs at the switchings can be guaranteed by adding equality constraints to the problem without affecting its parameterization structure. Finally, it is shown that piecewise-affine state feedback controller synthesis for piecewise-affine slab systems to maximize the decay rate of a quadratic control Lyapunov function can be cast as a set of quasi-concave optimization problems analytically parameterized by a vector. Before casting the synthesis in the format presented in this paper, Lyapunov-based piecewise-affine state feedback controller synthesis could only be formulated as a bi-convex optimization program, which is very expensive to solve globally. Thus, the fundamental importance of the contributions of the paper relies on the fact that, for the first time, the piecewise-affine state feedback synthesis problem has been formulated as a convex problem with a parameterized set of LMIs that can be relaxed to a finite set of LMIs and solved efficiently to a point near the global optimum using available software. Furthermore, it is shown for the first time that, in some situations, the global can be exactly found by solving only one concave problem.