Enlarging the Region of Attraction of Equilibria of Underactuated Systems Using Impulsive Inputs

Underactuated dynamic systems typically have multiple isolated equilibria, and therefore, a stabilizing controller is effective only in the region of attraction of the equilibrium. An impulsive control method is proposed for enlarging the region of attraction of stabilized equilibria of underactuated systems. The method relies on obtaining an estimate of the region of attraction and intersection of this region with the impulse manifold. The efficacy of the method is demonstrated through simulations and experiments.