Robotics, mechatronics and autonomous systems can exhibit complex nonlinear dynamics which can lead to unsatisfactory transients and deviation from setpoints or even to instability. A standard approach in the control of these systems had been the concept of diffeomorphisms to bring a system into a linear form. However, these methods are not straightforward and result in complicated state-space model transformations. In this monograph, new methods have been investigated which are not constrained by the shortcomings of global linearization-based control schemes. They can be implemented in a computationally simple manner, are followed by global stability proofs, and perform better than previous optimal control approaches for a wider class of nonlinear dynamical systems and applications. In this monograph, the authors present two main proven control methods: the nonlinear optimal (H-infinity) control method, and the flatness-based control approach. These methods have shown to be better suited than previous standard approaches in solving control issues, and can be used in a wide class of dynamical systems. They can have a broad range of applications in mechatronics, industrial robotics, space robotics, robotic cranes and pendulums, autonomous vehicles, aerospace systems and satellites, power electronics, biosystems and financial systems.

This very comprehensive monograph is a valuable resource for academic researchers and engineers working on control systems and estimation methods, and university staff and graduate students in the fields of control and automation, robotics and mechatronics, electrical engineering, electric power systems and power electronics, biosystems, computer science, financial systems, and physics. The monograph is also a very useful reference for skilled technical professionals developing real world applications.