The purpose of this book is to present a self-contained description of the fun damentals of the theory of nonlinear control systems, with special emphasis on the differential geometric approach. The book is intended as a graduate text as weil as a reference to scientists and engineers involved in the analysis and design of feedback systems. The first version of this book was written in 1983, while I was teach ing at the Department of Systems Science and Mathematics at Washington University in St. Louis. This new edition integrates my subsequent teaching experience gained at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in 1987, at the Carl-Cranz Gesellschaft in Oberpfaffenhofen in 1987, at the University of California in Berkeley in 1988. In addition to a major rearrangement of the last two Chapters of the first version, this new edition incorporates two additional Chapters at a more elementary level and an exposition of some relevant research findings which have occurred since 1985.

This volume represents most aspects of the rich and growing field of nonlinear control. These proceedings contain 78 papers, including six plenary lectures, striking a balance between theory and applications. Subjects covered include feedback stabilization, nonlinear and adaptive control of electromechanical systems, nonholonomic systems. Generalized state space systems, algebraic computing in nonlinear systems theory, decoupling, linearization and model-matching and robust control are also covered.

This volume presents a well balanced combination of state-of-the-art theoretical results in the field of nonlinear controller and observer design, combined with industrial applications stemming from mechatronics, electrical, (bio–) chemical engineering, and fluid dynamics. The unique combination of results of finite as well as infinite–dimensional systems makes this book a remarkable contribution addressing postgraduates, researchers, and engineers both at universities and in industry. The contributions to this book were presented at the Symposium on Nonlinear Control and Observer Design: From Theory to Applications (SYNCOD), held September 15–16, 2005, at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. The conference and this book are dedicated to the 65th birthday of Prof. Dr.–Ing. Dr.h.c. Michael Zeitz to honor his life – long research and contributions on the fields of nonlinear control and observer design.

The series of IFAC Symposia on Nonlinear Control Systems provides the ideal forum for leading researchers and practitioners who work in the field to discuss and evaluate the latest research and developments. This publication contains the papers presented at the 3rd IFAC Symposium in the series which was held in Tahoe City, California, USA.

In this work, the authors present a global perspective on the methods available for analysis and design of non-linear control systems and detail specific applications. They provide a tutorial exposition of the major non-linear systems analysis techniques followed by a discussion of available non-linear design methods.

The purpose of this book is twofold: To survey control system design methods based on the system inversion technique and to collect into one place the many recent results in the field. It has been known for some time that inverse systems may be used to solve numerous control problems. Despite the importance and conceptual simplicity of this topic there appears to be no monograph written on it. The purpose of this work is therefore to present and apply a systematic design method which bases itself on the fundamental system property of invertibility. Many different theoretical and practical aspects are considered in this volume working from elementary topics in the first section to current research in the second.

This eagerly awaited follow-up to Nonlinear Control Systems incorporates recent advances in the design of feedback laws, for the purpose of globally stabilizing nonlinear systems via state or output feedback. The author is one of the most prominent researchers in the field.