A stable two-level hybrid controller for nonlinear discrete-time systems

Hybrid systems made up of a continuous plant supervised by a discrete-event controller are considered in this paper. A set of optimal feedback control functions is defined at the continuous level. The aim of the discrete-event controller, modelled by means of a finite-state automaton, is that of choosing, in the above mentioned set, the best control action to be applied to the plant in dependence of the current plant conditions and of possibly occurred external events. The overall control scheme is, thus, a two-level hybrid control scheme. A preliminar analytical study of the stability properties of the hybrid control scheme is presented.