Systems & Control Letters 44 (2001) 4556

www.elsevier.com/locate/sysconle
VSS-version of energy-based control for swinging
up a pendulum
A.S. Shiriaev
a,
, O. Egeland
b
, H. Ludvigsen
b
, A.L. Fradkov
c
a
Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Institute for Production Technology, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55,
DK-5230 Odense, Denmark
b
Department of Engineering Cybernetics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway
c
Institute for Problems of Mechanical Engineering, 61, Bolshoy V.O., 199178 St. Petersburg, Russia
Received 20 May 1998; received in revised form 5 April 2001
Abstract
A new algorithm ensuring global attractivity of the upright (unstable) equilibrium of a pendulum, based on the variable
structure system-version of the energy-speed-gradient method, is proposed. It is shown that global attractivity cannot be
obtained with continuous static state feedback. A detailed global analysis of the transient behavior of the closed loop
system is presented. In addition, it is shown that the global attractivity of the upright equilibrium can be achieved by
applying a control of arbitrarily small magnitude. c 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Pendulum; Energy stabilization
1. Introduction
Both pendulum and pendulum-like systems have been of longstanding interest in physics and mechanics as
typical models of oscillatory motion. Pendulums are also used in physics education because of their ease of
implementation and ability to exhibit a variety of stable and unstable motions. Finally, pendulums are used
in control education for the demonstration of dierent control strategies [10].
The possibility of changing dynamical properties of pendulum-like systems by external forcing has been
studied since the early 1900s. It was shown that high frequency vibration of the pendulum axis can transform
an unstable upright equilibrium into a stable one [19]. Experiments and the theory of Kapitsas pendulum
gave rise to well developed elds such as vibrational mechanics [4] and vibrational control [3]. However,
in order to signicantly change the dynamics of the system (e.g. to stabilize an unstable equilibrium) with
external feedforward action, the magnitude of the force must be suciently large.
Recently, dierent algorithms of feedback control for pendular systems were proposed, see [20,6,1,7,2,18,12,
17,5] to mention a few. In [20] the idea of energy control was introduced. In [7] a method for stabiliz-
ing the specied energy level H(q, ) = H

for general Hamiltonian systems was proposed. The method

was based on the speed-gradient approach, see [9] and references therein. It was shown that the proposed

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: anton@mip.sdu.dk (A.S. Shiriaev).
0167-6911/01/$ - see front matter c 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S0167- 6911( 01) 00124- 4
46 A.S. Shiriaev et al. / Systems & Control Letters 44 (2001) 4556
speed-gradient-energy algorithm stabilizes any specied energy level with arbitrarily small control level, if the
initial energy layer H
0
6H(q, ) 6H

(or H
0
H(q, ) H

), where H
0
=H(q(0), (0)) does not contain
equilibria. In [7] the conditions for almost global attractivity (i.e. attraction from all initial conditions except
some set of zero Lebesgue measure) were given; however, the proof was incomplete. The results of [7] were
improved and extended to the general problem of stabilization of the invariant sets for nonlinear systems in
[8,1416].
However, the problem of global stabilization of the unstable upper equilibrium of the pendulum remains
unsolved. It will be shown below that the problem cannot be solved by continuous static state feedback
(Section 2).
The main contribution of the paper is a new solution to this problem, which is based on the energy-speed-
gradient approach. The idea that is used is that the energy level H

of the unforced pendulum corresponding

to the upper equilibrium contains only one c-limit point. Therefore, by stabilizing the energy level H

one
can hope that this desired equilibrium point will be the unique attracting point of the closed loop system.
However, existing energy-speed-gradient algorithms do not provide the required convergence rate of the closed
loop system solution to H

and may lead to innite rotations with damping energy.

It turns out that a simple modication of the energy-speed-gradient method based on the idea of variable
structure systems (VSS) makes it possible to achieve global attractivity of the upper equilibrium point. The
main result is presented in Section 3 (Theorem 4). Moreover, we provide the qualitative analysis of the closed
loop system motions and show that almost any solution of the closed loop system achieves the desired energy
level H

in nite time. The set of exceptional initial points, for which the pendulum tends to upright point
but achieves the energy level H

for innite time, will be described too. In addition, we show that global
attractivity can be provided with an arbitrarily small level of controlling force.
2. Preliminaries and motivation
Consider a pendulum. Suppose that its suspension point can be moved only along the horizontal axis and
that the control variable is the acceleration along this line. The motion of the pendulum is described by the
equations
(t) =mq! sin q(t) + m!u cos(q(t)), (1)
q(t) =
1
m!
2
(t), (2)
where q, are generalized coordinate and momentum, u is the control action, m, !, q are the mass of the
pendulum, the length of the pendulum and the gravity acceleration, respectively. It is reasonable to consider
motions of the unforced pendulum lying on a cylinder with a circle of radius ! at the base, i.e. q 6.
This simply means that for any integer k the points (q
1
, ) and (q
2
, ) with q
1
q
2
= 2k are identied. To
preserve the same phase space for the controlled pendulum only 2-periodic in q control laws u = U(q, )
will be considered.
To motivate further developments let us show that there is no continuous 2-periodic in q static feedback
u = [(q, ), (3)
which guarantees that the upright position [q, ] =[, 0] of the unforced pendulum is a unique c-limit point
of the closed loop system (1)(3).
By contradiction, suppose that such a function [(q, ) exists. Then one can easily see that the value of
[(, 0) is zero, i.e. the point [, 0] is also an equilibrium point of the closed loop system. The vector eld of
(1)(3) on the circle S
1
={[q, ]: = 0} has the form
[0, [(q)]
T
= [0, mq! sin q + m![(q, 0) cos q]
T
.
Since the function [(q) is continuous, [(}2)=mq! 0, and [(}2)=mq! 0, there exists q

(}2, +
}2) such that [(q

)=0. The latter means that the closed loop system (1)(3) has at least a second equilibrium
A.S. Shiriaev et al. / Systems & Control Letters 44 (2001) 4556 47
point [q

, 0]. This shows that the upright position cannot be made globally attractive and, moreover, it cannot
be made globally asymptotically stable by any continuous static feedback.
Such simple arguments (or general arguments based on the Milnors theorem) result in the necessity of
having either time-varying terms or switching terms in the regulator (3) to make the upright equilibrium
globally attractive (it should be noted that attractivity is dierent from asymptotic stability of the equilibrium).
Below, one of the possible solutions, based on switching, is described.
The idea of the solution is based on the following observation: Let H
(, 0)
be the value of the total energy
of the pendulum with u = 0 corresponding to the upright equilibrium (q, ) = (, 0). Then any motion of
the pendulum with u = 0 having the energy value H
(, 0)
has just one c-limit point which is the upright
equilibrium.
Indeed, motions of the unforced pendulum having the same energy value as the upright equilibrium are
the only two homoclinic curves of the pendulum. They tend to the upright equilibrium both in positive and
negative time and do not have other c-limit points except the upright equilibrium.
By stabilizing the energy level H
(, 0)
, one can hope that this desired equilibrium point will be a unique
attractive point of the closed loop system. To this end it seems natural to apply the direct energy control
suggested in [7]. However, the existing energy feedback control does not provide the required convergence
rate of the closed loop system solution. In general, it does lead to innite rotations with damping energy.
As shown below, a simple modication of the energy-control method based on the idea of VSS (variable
structure systems) leads to global attractivity of the upper equilibrium, see Theorem 4. Moreover, the form
of the suggested regulator allows the performance of a qualitative analysis of the closed loop system.
In particular, it will be shown that almost any solution of the closed loop system achieves the desired
energy level H
(, 0)
in nite time. Then we clarify the meaning of almost any solution proving that the set
of exceptional initial points, for which the pendulum tends to the upright point but achieves the energy level
H
(, 0)
for innite time, is only one smooth curve on the cylindrical phase space.
In addition, it will be proved that this curve does not have any intersections and :-limit points except the
downward equilibrium point, see Theorem 8. It is worth mentioning that such an analysis does not involve
arguments based on the dimension of the closed loop system. Thus, the main ideas can be extended for
multidimensional pendulum-like systems.
Introduce the total energy (or Hamiltonian function) H
0
(q, ) of the unforced pendulum
H
0
(q, ) =
1
2m!
2

2
+ mq!(1 cos q). (4)
Let H

be any nonnegative constant and introduce scalar functions J(q, ) and ,(q, ) as follows:
J(q, ) =
1
2
[H
0
(q, ) H

]
2
, (5)
,(q, ) =
1
!
cos(q)[H
0
(q, ) H

]. (6)
The functions J, , possess an important property namely, the controlled pendulum (1), (2) with the output
function (6) is passive (in fact, lossless) with nonnegative storage function J, i.e.
cJ
cq
1
2m!
2

cJ
c
mq! sin q = 0,

cJ
cq
,
cJ
c

0
m!

= ,. (7)
Proposition 1. Let [q(t), (t)] be any motion of the unforced pendulum (1), (2) subject to the constraint:
,(t) = 0 for all t 0. Then there exist two possible cases:
(1) H
0
(q(t), (t)) = H

for all t 0;
(2) [q(t), (t)] [0, 0] or [q(t), (t)] [, 0].
Proof. Consider a trajectory [q(t), (t)] subject to the constraint ,(t) = 0 for all t 0, i.e.
(t) cos q(t)[H
0
(q(t), (t)) H

] = 0.
For the pendulum (1), (2) with no control action the function H
0
is a conserved quantity, so its value does
not change with time. Suppose that there exists moment of time t

0 such that H
0
(q(t

), (t

)) =H

; then
48 A.S. Shiriaev et al. / Systems & Control Letters 44 (2001) 4556
H
0
(q(t), (t)) =H

for all t 0. Hence (t) cos q(t) is equal to zero for all t 0. The last condition is valid
only for the two equilibrium points mentioned in (2).
3. Main results
Proposition 2. Let [: R
1
R
1
be any smooth function such that :[(:) 0 for all nonzero : and H

=2mq!.
Take a control law of the form
u =

if q = 0, = 0,
[(,) otherwise,
(8)
where u

is any nonzero constant and , is dened by (6). Then the unstable equilibrium point [q, ] =[, 0]
of the unforced pendulum (1), (2) is an c-limit point of any solution of the closed loop system, i.e. c 0
there exists a sequence {1
n
}
+
n=1
, 1
n
+, such that |q(1
n
) | c, |(1
n
)| c.
Proof. (1) Let us prove that the downward equilibrium [0, 0] is totally unstable. To do this we will show
that any solution of the closed loop system (1), (2), (8) leaves any small neighborhood of [0, 0]. Given a
point [q
0
,
0
] =[0, 0] with |q
0
| +|
0
| 6c, where c is small positive constant. The value of the function J at
the equilibrium [0, 0] equals 2(mq!)
2
and its value at [q
0
,
0
] is
J(q
0
,
0
) =
1
2
[H
0
(q
0
,
0
) 2mq!]
2
2(mq!)
2
= J(0, 0),
provided c 0 is suciently small.
Consider the solution [q(t), (t)] of (1), (2), (8) with origin in [q
0
,
0
]. Calculating the time derivative of
J along [q(t), (t)], one has

J(q(t), (t)) =
cJ
cq
q +
cJ
c
=
1
!
(t) cos q(t)[H
0
(q(t), (t)) H

]u
=,(t)[(,(t)) 60. (9)
This implies that for any t 0 the value of J(q(t), (t)) will always be less or equal to J(q
0
,
0
). Moreover,
the equality
J(q(t), (t)) = J(q
0
,
0
) t 0
is valid just for the case when the output function ,(t) (and therefore the control action u(t), see (8)) is
zero along the solution [q(t), (t)]. By Proposition 1 there is no such trajectory around [0, 0], except the
equilibrium [0, 0]. Thus, for all t 0 we have the strict inequality
J(q(t), (t)) J(q
0
,
0
).
Furthermore, one can readily verify that for any small o 0 the set
J
o
=

[q, ]: J(q, ) 2(mq!)

2
o

O
is a neighborhood of [0, 0]. Here, O is some open set with [0, 0] O. Particularly, it is shown that the
functional J, dened on the solutions of the closed loop system, achieves a strict local maximum at [0, 0]
and this equilibrium is unstable.
(2) Let us prove that for any initial condition [q
0
,
0
] the solution [q(t), (t)] = [q(t, q
0
), (t,
0
)] of the
closed loop system (1), (2), (6), (8) is well dened and has a nonempty c-limit set. Given a point [q
0
,
0
],
consider the solution [q(t), (t)] = [q(t, q
0
), (t,
0
)] of the closed loop system. It follows from part (1), that
a jump in a control variable u can occur only when initial conditions coincide with [0, 0]. As already shown,
this equilibrium is unstable. Therefore, one can assume that [q
0
,
0
] =[0, 0] and the control, dened by (8),
is a continuous function.
The solution [q(t), (t)] is locally well dened. Calculating the time derivative of J along [q(t), (t)] one
gets the passivity inequality (9). Hence, J(q(t), (t)) 6J(q
0
,
0
) for some suciently small interval of time
t [0, t

), where the trajectory [q(t), (t)] is well dened.

A.S. Shiriaev et al. / Systems & Control Letters 44 (2001) 4556 49
The set {[q, ]: J(q, ) 6J(q
0
,
0
)} is compact and is invariant with respect to the trajectories of the
closed loop system. Therefore, the solution [q(t), (t)] is well dened on [0, +) and belongs to a compact
set. This implies that this trajectory has an c-limit set
0
which is nonempty, compact and consists of
whole trajectories of the closed loop system. Moreover, J is constant on
0
and the feedback control (8) is
zero on
0
.
(3) Let us show that for any solution of the closed loop system the upright equilibrium belongs to its c-limit
set. Given a point [ q
0
,
0
]
0
, consider the solution [ q(t), (t)] =[ q(t, q
0
), (t,
0
)] of the closed loop system
(1), (2), (6), (8). Along [ q(t), (t)] the output function (6) and the control input (8) are identically equal to
zero. It follows from Proposition 1 and the instability of [0, 0] that [ q(t), (t)] belongs to a constant energy
level, which corresponds to the energy of the upright equilibrium point, i.e.
H
0
( q(t), (t)) = 2mq! t 0. (10)
One can easily check that any solution of (1), (2) with zero control action consistent with (10) is either one
of the two homoclinic curves of the pendulum, or the upright equilibrium. Any of these solution has a unique
c-limit point, which is the upright equilibrium.
The last conclusion implies that the upright equilibrium also belongs to the c-limit set for the original
solution [q(t), (t)]. Indeed, it follows from the standard fact that any c-limit point for [ q(t), (t)] must
belong to the c-limit set for [q(t), (t)].
Remark 3. Proposition 2 does not guarantee that the solution will be in some neighborhood of the upright
equilibrium for all suciently large moments of time, but it will be an innite number of times in any
neighborhood of this point.
Theorem 4. Suppose [: R
1
R
1
is any smooth function such that :[(:) 0 for all nonzero :. Given
c (0, 2mq!), take the regulator
u =

if q = 0, = 0,
0 if H
0
(q, ) = 2mq!,
[(
1
!
cos q[H
0
(q, ) 2mq! + c]) if H
0
(q, ) 2mq!,
[(
1
!
cos q[H
0
(q, ) 2mq! c]) if H
0
(q, ) 2mq!,
(11)
where u

is any nonzero number. Then, the unstable equilibrium [q, ] = [, 0] of the unforced pendulum
(1), (2) is a unique c-limit point of the closed loop system, i.e. it is globally attractive.
Proof. Take any point [q
0
,
0
] with H
0
(q
0
,
0
) 2mq! and consider the solution [q(t), (t)]=[q(t, q
0
), (t,
0
)]
of the closed loop system (1), (2), (11). Since the subset of phase space with H
0
(q, ) 2mq! is open, there
exists t

0 such that for all t [0, t

) the control law has no jumps and the trajectory [q(t), (t)] is well
dened on [0, t

). Calculating the time derivative of the function

J
c
(q, ) =
1
2
[H
0
(q, ) 2mq! + c]
2
(12)
along this trajectory one has

J
c
(q(t), (t)) =
1
!
(t) cos q(t)[H
0
(q(t), (t)) 2mq! + c]u
=
1
!
(t) cos q(t)[H
0
(q(t), (t)) 2mq! + c]
[

1
!
(t) cos q(t)[H
0
(q(t), (t)) 2mq! + c]

60. (13)
Hence, for all t [0, t

) the solution [q(t), (t)] belongs to a compact set {[q, ]: J

c
(q, ) 6J
c
(q
0
,
0
)}. Due
to (13) it is continuable up to the rst moment 1

, where a jump in the control law occurs, and the nonnegative

function J
c
decreases along this trajectory.
50 A.S. Shiriaev et al. / Systems & Control Letters 44 (2001) 4556
Due to (11) the jump in the control function u can only take place if H
0
(q(1

), (1

)) = 2mq!. Suppose
that this is the case, and consider the solution of the closed loop system (1), (2), (11) with the initial
condition [q(1

), (1

)]. Along this new trajectory the control (11) is equal to zero and it is the motion of
the unforced pendulum lying on the 2mq!-energy level. This set consists of two homoclinic curves of the
unforced pendulum and the upright equilibrium. So starting at any point on this set, the solution [q(t), (t)]
tends to [, 0] as t +.
Now, suppose that the trajectory does not achieve the 2mq!-energy level for a nite time. Then the control
function (11) has no jumps, [q(t), (t)] belongs to a compact set {[q, ]: J
c
(q, ) 6J
c
(q
0
,
0
)} and it is well
dened for all t 0. Hence [q(t), (t)] has an c-limit set
0
which is nonempty, compact and consists of
whole trajectories of the unforced pendulum. Moreover, for any point [q, ]
0
the following equalities hold:
J
c
(q, ) = a, cos q[H
0
(q, ) 2mq! + c] = 0. (14)
Let us show that the nonnegative constant a in (14) should be positive. Indeed, if a = 0 then along the
trajectory [q(t), (t)] the value of the Hamiltonian function H
0
(q(t), (t)) tends to (2mq! c) as t +.
Since by assumption H
0
(q(t), (t)) 2mq! for all t 0, the last limit relation is impossible and a 0.
It follows from the second equality of (14) that for any trajectory [ q(t), (t)]
0
of the unforced pendulum
the value of (t) cos q(t) is zero for all t 0. It is not hard to see that any trajectory of the unforced pendulum
with H
0
( q(t), (t)) 2mq! and (t) cos q(t) = 0 for all t 0 coincides with the upright equilibrium.
Thus, we have shown that any trajectory of the closed loop system (1), (2), (11) with initial condition
[q
0
,
0
] such that H
0
(q
0
,
0
) 2mq! either comes in nite time to 2mq!-energy level, where the control
undertakes switching to zero value, and then the solution tends to the point [, 0] following a homoclinic
curve; or the solution simply tends to the point [, 0] as t + without any switching.
For the case of the initial condition [q
0
,
0
] with the energy less or equal to 2mq!, i.e. H
0
(q
0
,
0
) 62mq!,
the arguments for the proof are similar as for the case of the initial condition with H
0
(q
0
,
0
) 2mq!
considered above.
Remark 5. The closed loop system (1), (2), (11) is a nonlinear system with the discontinuous right-hand side
in the points of switching of the control function. Thus, the question of dening solutions of the system can
arise. It follows from the proof of Theorem 4 that for any initial condition the solution of the system (1),
(2), (11) is an absolutely continuous function, which is well dened on [0, +), and the derivative of this
function is a piece-wise smooth function, which can have no more than two points of jump.
Remark 6. Given the initial energy of the pendulum, the maximum value of the control action can be made
arbitrarily small by means of a proper choice of the regulator parameters. Indeed, let

H 0 be the initial
level of the pendulum energy. Then all the trajectories of the closed loop system belong to the set
|

H 2mq!| 6H
0
(q, ) 2mq! 6|

H 2mq!|,

2
6|

H 2mq!| + 2mq!,
i.e. the argument of the function [ in (11) is bounded. Let [
0
be any smooth function such that :[
0
(:) 0
for : =0. Taking j 0 and choosing u

= j, [(:) = j[
0
(:) in (11) we obtain that |u(t)| 6Cj for some
C 0. Then choosing suciently small j 0 we achieve stabilization with an arbitrarily small control value.
Remark 7. The result stated in Theorem 4 means that any solution of the closed loop system evolving on
the cylindrical phase space tends to the upright equilibrium of the pendulum. If one considers motions of the
closed loop system (1), (2), (8) evolving on R
2
then Theorem 4 means that any solution of the closed loop
system tends to one of the unstable equilibria of the pendulum in R
2
, and this solution is bounded.
Analyzing the proof of Theorem 4, one can notice that the phase space of the pendulum can be divided
into two parts (subsets): the rst one possesses the property that any solution of the closed loop system (1),
(2), (11) with initial condition from this set achieves in a nite time the energy level 2mq!, corresponding
A.S. Shiriaev et al. / Systems & Control Letters 44 (2001) 4556 51
to the upright equilibrium of the pendulum; and the second one is the set of initial conditions for which the
trajectories of the closed loop system achieve this energy level in an innite time.
Our goal is to describe these subsets in detail and to show that the rst subset is almost all phase space
while the second is only a smooth curve without intersection. The latter means that for almost all initial
conditions the control function has a bounded time of action.
Theorem 8. Given c (0, 2mq!). Suppose [: R
1
R
1
is any smooth function such that :[(:) 0 for all
nonzero : and [(0) = 0. Consider the closed loop system (1), (2), (11). Then
(a) The set of initial conditions [q
0
,
0
] with H
0
(q
0
,
0
) 2mq!, such that the solution [q(t), (t)] =
[q(t, q
0
), (t,
0
)] of (1), (2), (11) achieves 2mq!-energy level in innite time, is a smooth curve
1
on the
cylindrical phase space such that
(1a)
1
is invariant with respect to the solutions of (1), (2), (11);
(2a) the set of :-limit point of [q(t), (t)]
1
is empty;
(3a)
1
is unbounded and has no intersections.
(b) The set of initial conditions [q
0
,
0
] with H
0
(q
0
,
0
) 2mq!, such that the solution [q(t), (t)] =
[q(t, q
0
), (t,
0
)] of (1), (2), (11) achieves 2mq!-energy level in innite time, is a smooth curve
2
on the
cylindrical phase space such that
(1b)
2
is invariant with respect to the solutions of (1), (2), (11);
(2b) the set of :-limit point of [q(t), (t)]
2
contains only the equilibrium [0, 0];
(3b)
2
is bounded and has no intersections.
Proof. (1) Given a point [q
0
,
0
] with H
0
(q
0
,
0
) 2mq!, suppose the solution [q(t), (t)] of (1), (2), (11)
with origin in [q
0
,
0
] achieves 2mq!-energy level in an innite time. It follows from the proof of Theorem
4 that along this trajectory the state feedback control (11) has no jumps and is dened as follows:
u =[

1
!
cos q[H
0
(q, ) 2mq! + c]

. (15)
The solution [q(t), (t)] lives on the two-dimensional cylindrical phase space. Let us consider the usual
immersion [Q(t), P(t)] of this solution into R
2
. The latter simply means that [Q(t), P(t)] is a solution of the
system

P =mq! sin Q + m!u cos Q, (16)

Q =
1
m!
2
P, (17)
u =[

1
!
P cos Q[H
0
(Q, P) 2mq! + c]

, (18)
with initial condition [Q(0), P(0)] = [q
0
,
0
], and it evolves in R
2
. The solutions [q(t), (t)] and [Q(t), P(t)]
are related as follows:
(t) = P(t), q(t) = Q(t) mod 2. (19)
Moreover, one can easily check whether the relations (19) establish one-to-one correspondence between pairs
of solutions [q(t), (t)] and [Q(t), P(t)], provided the initial condition for Q(t) is chosen as Q(0) 6.
This help us to transform the convergence of [q(t), (t)] to the equilibrium [, 0] into the convergence of
[Q(t), P(t)] to the equilibrium [ + 2k, 0] with k being some integer.
Linearizing the system (16)(18) around the equilibrium [ + 2k, 0] one gets

P
!
= mq!Q
!
,

Q
!
=
1
m!
2
P
!
. (20)
52 A.S. Shiriaev et al. / Systems & Control Letters 44 (2001) 4556
The linear system (20) has one stable and one unstable eigenvalue, which means that [ + 2k, 0] is a
hyperbolic equilibrium of the system (16)(18). By the saddle point theorem, see [13], applied to the system
(16)(18), there exist globally dened stable and unstable manifolds,

st
and

un
, which are invariant with
respect to the vector eld of the system (16)(18) and possess the properties: (I) for any point [

Q
0
,

P
0
]

st
the solution [

Q(t),

P(t)] of (16)(18) with origin in [

Q
0
,

P
0
], tends to [ + 2k, 0] as t +; (II) for
any point [

Q
0
,

P
0
]

un
the solution [

Q(t),

P(t)] of (16)(18) with origin in [

Q
0
,

P
0
] tends to [ + 2k, 0]
as t ; (III) the sets

st
,

un
are the maximal sets having properties (I) and (II), respectively; (IV) the
dimensions of the smooth manifolds

st
,

un
are equal to 1, i.e.

st
,

un
are smooth curves on R
2
.
Using the one-to-one correspondence between solutions [q(t), (t)] and [Q(t), P(t)] (which takes place if
the initial condition for Q(t) is chosen as Q(0) 6, and this is our case) we can state that for the
hyperbolic equilibrium [, 0] of the original closed system (1), (2), (11) there exist globally dened stable
and unstable manifolds,
st
and
un
, which are invariant with respect to the vector eld of the system (1),
(2), (11) and possess the properties: (I

) for any point [ q

0
,
0
]
st
the solution [ q(t), (t)] of (1), (2), (11)
with origin in [ q
0
,
0
], tends to [, 0] as t +; (II

) for any point [ q

0
,
0
]
un
the solution [ q(t), (t)]
of (1), (2), (11) with origin in [ q
0
,
0
] tends to [, 0] as t ; (III

) the sets
st
,
un
are the maximal
sets on the cylindrical phase space having properties (I

) and (II

), respectively; (IV

) the dimensions of the

smooth manifolds
st
,
un
are equal to 1, i.e.
st
,
un
are smooth curves on the two-dimensional cylindrical
phase space.
By maximality of the stable manifold
st
the trajectory [q(t), (t)] belongs to
st
. Thus, we infer that the
set of all initial points [q
0
,
0
] with H
0
(q
0
,
0
) 2mq! for which the solution of (1), (2), (11) has innite
time to achieve 2mq!-energy level belongs to the set
st
.
Let us show that the set A of :-limit point of any trajectory [q(t), (t)]
st
is empty. Indeed, sup-
pose [q

] is an :-limit point of [q(t), (t)], i.e. there exists a sequence {1

n
}
+
n=1
, 1
n
+, such that
[q(1
n
), (1
n
)] tends to [q

] as n +. By virtue of (13), the integral relation

J
c
(q(1
n
), (1
n
)) J
c
(q(0), (0)) =

1
n
0
:(s)[(:(s)) ds (21)
holds, where
:(t) =
1
!
(t) cos(q(t) [)[H
0
(q(t), (t)) 2mq! + c]. (22)
The left-hand side of (21) has a limit as n +, hence the right-hand side of (21) also has a limit and
J
c
(q

) J
c
(q(0), (0)) =

:(s)[(:(s)) ds. (23)

Let us show that the trajectory [q(t), (t)] is bounded when t (, +). Indeed, {q(1
n
), (1
n
)}
+
n=1
has a limit as n +, and hence this sequence is bounded.
Due to (21) one has
J
c
(q(t), (t)) 6J
c
(q(1), (1)) t 1, 1 (, +). (24)
Since the sequence {q(1
n
), (1
n
)}
+
n=1
is bounded, there exists a constant c
0
0 such that
J
c
(q(t), (t)) 6J
c
(q

) + c
0
t (, +). (25)
Recall that J
c
is a proper function on the cylindrical phase space, i.e. the relation (25) means that [q(t), (t)]
with t (, +) belongs to a compact set and, therefore, is bounded.
It follows from boundedness of [q(t), (t)] and [ q(t), (t)], see the closed loop system equations, that the
time derivative of the function :(t) [(:(t)), where the function :(t) is dened by (22), is also uniformly
bounded. Moreover, the function :(t) [(:(t)) is nonnegative and summable on (, 0]. Then by Barbalat
lemma :(t) [(:(t)) 0 as t . By smoothness of the functions :(q, ), [(:) we obtain that the limit
point [q

] satises the equality

0 = :(q

) =
1
!

cos q

[H
0
(q

) 2mq! + c], (26)

A.S. Shiriaev et al. / Systems & Control Letters 44 (2001) 4556 53
with H
0
(q

) 2mq! 2mq! c. Hence, for any point (q

) A the equality

cos q

=0 holds. The
set A is invariant with respect to the solutions of the closed loop system and, moreover, by the relation (26)
the control function equals zero on A. Therefore the set A consists of the whole trajectories ( q(t), (t)) of
the unforced pendulum subjected to the constraint
(t) cos q(t) = 0, H
0
( q(t), (t)) 2mq! t 0. (27)
It is obvious that any motion of the unforced pendulum satisfying (27) coincides with the point [, 0] and
therefore A= [, 0]. But this contradicts H
0
(q(0), (0)) 2mq!.
Indeed, taking o 0, there exists 1 0 such that 0 6(H
0
(q(1), (1)) 2mq!) o. It follows from
relation (24) that
H
0
(q(t), (t)) 2mq! + c 6H
0
(q(1), (1)) 2mq! + c 6o + c t 1. (28)
Hence, 0 6(H
0
(q(t), (t)) 2mq!) o, t 1, and this is true for any o 0. Therefore, H
0
(q(t), (t)) =
2mq!, t. But H
0
(q(0), (0)) 2mq! and we conclude that A= , i.e. for any [q(t), (t)]
st
the set of
:-limit points of this trajectory is empty. This immediately implies that the curve
st
is unbounded and by
smoothness it has no intersections. Part (a) of Theorem 8 is proven.
(2) The proof of Theorem 8 part (b) is essentially easier and repeats the proof of (a). Take any point
[q
0
,
0
] with H
0
(q
0
,
0
) 2mq! such that the solution [q(t), (t)] of (1), (2), (11) with origin in [q
0
,
0
]
achieves the 2mq!-energy level in innite time.
Using the proofs of Theorem 4 and part (a) of Theorem 8 we obtain rst that [q(t), (t)] is the motion of
the controlled pendulum (1), (2) with state feedback control
u =[

1
!
cos(q [)[H
0
(q, ) 2mq! c]

, (29)
second that [q(t), (t)] belongs to a stable manifold of the hyperbolic equilibrium [, 0] of the closed loop
system (1), (2), (29).
It is obvious that this trajectory is well dened on (, 0] (it belongs to the invariant compact set
{[q, ]: H
0
(q, ) 62mq! + c}). Using the arguments of part (a) or checking it directly we obtain that along
[q(t), (t)] the function
:(t) =
1
!
(t) cos q(t)[H
0
(q(t), (t)) 2mq! c] (30)
tends to zero as t . So that along this trajectory H
0
(q(t), (t)) 62mq!, and hence H
0
(q(t), (t)) 2mq!+
c. Thus we obtain that for any :-limit point [q

] of [q(t), (t)] the value of

cos q

is equal to zero.
Therefore, the :-limit points of [q(t), (t)] consists only of the equilibrium point [0, 0]. The absence of
intersections of this trajectory follows from the smoothness of [.
4. Results of computer simulations
To observe the performance of the obtained results we propose to check the control strategy suggested by
Proposition 2. Let m = 1 kg, ! = 1 m and q = 9.8 m}s
2
. Take the control law (8) suggested in Proposition 2
with [(,) = ,}100 and consider the motion of the controlled pendulum. By Proposition 2 the upright point
is the c-limit point of an arbitrary solution of the closed loop system. However, other c-limit points may
also exist which means that the solution of the closed loop system can be rotating and along this solution the
value of the Hamiltonian function tends to the energy corresponding to the upright equilibrium.
Fig. 1 shows the motion of the pendulum with the controller mentioned above and the initial condition
(q, ) =(0.005, 0.0001), while Fig. 2 presents the values of the control variable and the Hamiltonian along
this solution.
54 A.S. Shiriaev et al. / Systems & Control Letters 44 (2001) 4556
Fig. 1. The innite rotation of pendulum.
Fig. 2. The innite rotation of pendulum (contd).
A.S. Shiriaev et al. / Systems & Control Letters 44 (2001) 4556 55
5. Conclusions
In this paper, a VSS-like modication of the energy-speed-gradient regulator of [7], providing global attrac-
tivity of the upright equilibrium of the pendulum is proposed. Compared to the results of [7] the presented
algorithm ensures convergence of all solutions to the upright equilibrium, while in [7] only the stabilization
problem of the energy level, corresponding to the upright position was solved.
Particular attention is paid, in this paper, to the qualitative analysis of the transient behavior of the closed
loop system. It is shown that for almost all initial conditions the control function has a bounded time of action,
and that the exceptional set of initial condition, for which the control function has innite time of action,
is only a smooth curve on the cylindrical phase space. Moreover, it is shown that this curve is unbounded,
invariant with respect to the closed loop system solutions, has no intersections and any solution lying on this
curve, and no :-limit points except the downward equilibrium point.
Finally, it is shown (see Remark 6) that global attractivity can be provided with an arbitrarily small level of
controlling force. It is worth noticing that the problem of stabilization with bounded controls was considered
recently by several authors, see e.g. [11]. However, the presented analysis for this special case is more
detailed and establishes the global attractivity of the initially unstable equilibrium achieved with arbitrarily
small control.
It is interesting to note that the robustness of the closed loop system is a delicate issue. This can be seen
directly from the result: we proved that any solution of the closed loop system converges to the upright
equilibrium. But at the same time it could be proven that this equilibrium is not stable in the Lyapunov sense.
Therefore, one can easily suggest some perturbation of the system (e.g. adding friction or small disturbance)
which will destroy convergence.
Such lack of robustness provides additional instructive conclusions. Firstly, the closed loop system has
dynamics that are not natural: the equilibrium is not stable, but all solutions converge to it in innite time.
Secondly, this nonlinear system admits qualitative analysis, which is rather rare for nonlinear systems.
Moreover, the instruments used to make this preparation do not depend on the dimension of the system.
Thirdly, the obtained results are essentially based on the properties of homoclinic curves, which are not robust
to the perturbations mentioned above. So if one provides some perturbations which preserve the existence of
the homoclinic curves of the pendulum, then this perturbation will preserve the established properties of the
system as well. Finally, the way the results are proved is interesting in its own right.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their careful reading and detailed comments.
The work of A.L. Fradkov was supported by the Russian Foundation of Basic Research (grant 99-01-
00672), by the Russian Federal Program Integration and by the Program Control of Nonlinear Dynamical
Systems of Russian Academy of Sciences.
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