Virtual control contraction metrics: Convex nonlinear feedback design via behavioral embedding

Abstract This article presents a systematic approach to nonlinear state‐feedback control design that has three main advantages: (i) it ensures exponential stability and ‐gain performance with respect to a user‐defined set of reference trajectories, (ii) it provides constructive conditions based on convex optimization and a path‐integral‐based control realization, and (iii) it is less restrictive than previous similar approaches. In the proposed approach, first a virtual representation of the nonlinear dynamics is constructed for which a behavioral (parameter‐varying) embedding is generated. Then, by introducing a virtual control contraction metric, a convex control synthesis formulation is derived. Finally, a control realization with a virtual reference generator is computed, which is guaranteed to achieve exponential stability and ‐gain performance for all trajectories of the targeted reference behavior. We show that the proposed methodology is a unified generalization of the two distinct categories of linear‐parameter‐varying (LPV) state‐feedback control approaches: global and local methods. Moreover, it provides rigorous stability and performance guarantees as a method for nonlinear tracking control, while such properties are not guaranteed for tracking control using standard LPV approaches. Code is available at https://github.com/ruigangwang7/VCCM .