Distributed fault estimation of nonlinear dynamical systems over sensor networks: a non-fragile approach

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the fault estimation issue of nonlinear dynamical systems via distributed sensor networks. Furthermore, based on the communication topology of sensor networks, the nonfragile design strategy considering the gain fluctuation is also adopted for distributed fault estimators.Design/methodology/approachBy means of intensive dynamical model transformation, sufficient conditions with disturbance attenuation performance are established to design desired fault estimator gains with the help of convex optimization.FindingsA novel distributed fault estimation framework for a class of nonlinear dynamical systems is established over a set of distributed sensor networks, where sampled data of sensor nodes via local information exchanges can be used for more efficiency.Originality/valueThe proposed distributed fault estimator gain fluctuations are taken into account for the nonfragile strategy, such that the distributed fault estimators are more applicable for practical sensor networks implementations. In addition, an illustrative example with simulation results are provided to validate the effectiveness and applicableness of the developed distributed fault estimation technique.