Energy-Based Nonlinear Control ofUnderactuated Euler-Lagrange Systems Subject toImpacts

Inthispaper, energy-based nonlinear controllers aredesigned toglobally asymptotically stabilize anunderactu- atedmechanical system. Aninteresting aspect oftheproblem is thattheequilibrium points ofsomestates aredefined bycontact withasurface while theequilibrium points ofremaining states aredefined bynoncontact positions. Tostabilize thestates of thesystem anenergy coupling strategy isemployed. Theenergy coupling approach ismotivated bythedesire toimprove the transient response ofthesystem. A Lyapunov stability analysis andnumerical simulations areprovided todemonstrate the stability andperformance ofthedeveloped controllers. I.INTRODUCTION